[twnbay88]

Going to see a doctor soon to get this checked, but I';m still wondering to see if anyone else has experienced this before.

Currently a college student with a heavy course load, been trying to play when I can but not as often as I';d like. I';d been playing 24/7 over the MLK weekend after not playing as much over the semester. Lots of fast nonsense noodling and such.

On Monday I noticed a kind of a wave of pins and needles over my fingers every once in a while. It eventually went away to what I assume was leading up to pain in all my finger pads except my pinkys. It felt exactly like if you had fiberglass splinters in your fingertips that you couldn';t see. Relatively painful but not unbearable, just would notice from normal tasks or I pressed flat on them with decent pressure. No constant numbness or tingling. Happens in both hands (thumb to ring) on the lower portion of the finger pads. Blood tests came back normal and no sign of diabetes.

I';ve taken small week long breaks over the years and come back to playing out of nowhere, although this never happened. I believe my wrists are pretty straight when I';m playing but maybe I had them bent at the time. I also use a jazzlab saxholder.

Has this happened to anyone else before? If not, what types of injuries have you sustained over your playing career and how did you remedy them?

 

[SaxBass55]

Look up paresthesias (the various funny feelings in your fingertips) entrapment neuropathy (compressed nerves causing neuropathy) and positions that affect the median nerve anywhere between the neck (the fibers are called something else up there) and hand. Then talk to your providers and make sure that someone knows how to feel (palpate) anywhere along those lines looking for signs of where that nerve might get compressed and/or other causes. Assuming your age you probably had muscle tension affecting it, but there are some other conditions that should be considered by your professionals. Make sure that your providers know about those conditions, not all do. If you're lucky your provider may recognize how the jazzlab system helps relative to the neck. Best of luck!

 

[Dr G]

^^^^^^^^^

That’s fancy talk for a pinched nerve. It can be a real thing. No, it is not “normal”.

I’ve a friend that just had surgery for it this past week. See a real doc if the condition persists.

 

[peedeeblues]

Look up carpal tunnel syndrome.

 

[B Flat]

Lock up hypochondriasis.
Ok that’s a bit harsh but if it’s only happened the one time I wouldn’t jump to the conclusion that it will be an ongoing problem.

 

[twnbay88]

Lock up hypochondriasis.
Ok that's a bit harsh but if it's only happened the one time I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that it will be an ongoing problem.

I would not expect any different of a response like this, sotw users are great. But yeah nobody else pinched a nerve playing saxophone huh?

 

[milandro]

one word of cution, you may very well have something or may have nothing, one thing that is for sure once you will look for anything they will find something.

They won’t be able to know whether what they find would be directly related to your pain but they will suggest to fix things and see.

This was the approach that I underwent when I had problem with my shoulders.

After having , unsuccessfully treated my shoulders, they started looking elsewhere. So they measured the electric response of my muscles in the arm and hand. Found that I had the onset of s tunnel carpal syndrome on both hands and was operated there. The idea was, so a neurologist told me, that if I hadn’t had the operation I MAY ( and stress MAY) have lost the possibility to play.

Could they tell me that the operation would have been for sure preventing further worsening? NO, but hey do this for a job, they operate, so they did. I have lost the ability to handle small objects after the operations. The two operations were carried out by two different surgeons in two different hospitals.

Anyway, during a check up after the second operation this hand surgeon suggests that I have two forms of Thumb Arthritis ( my mother has that too) and that I should have braces made to prevent this getting worse.

Could they say for sure the braces would have prevented my thumbs to get worse?

NO, they could’t. You can’t prove for sure that wearing this will prevent the worsening of the condition. By way the worsening of the other joint of the thumb could only be prevented by operating and fixing the joint firm.

I got the EXPENSIVE braces, life was difficult with and after some time I decided that I wouldn’t wear them. My thumbs didn’t really get a lot worse.


Look and you shall find.

Many Dutch citizens think that by undergoing total body scans they can detect cancer early, the doctors in Holland say it is not a good way to diagnose things. They go to Germany and do this at a cost at many private clinics.

Exactly as the Dutch doctors say, you get a lot of false positives, get scared, spend more money into looking at things that aren’t there.

It is a bit like going to a technician and ask if you horn needs improvement.

You do that and then you immediately go to another technician and ask if there is any improvement and he WILL find more to improve, guaranteed. We all do what we are trained and have a vested interest to do.

 

[Bloo Dog]

The pins-and-needles could be a symptom of diabetes (DM-2), though that symptom usually affects the lower extremities first but not always. A couple of simple blood tests over a week's time will detect if your blood sugar is out of whack.

 

[Wonko]

Going to see the doctor is certainly a good start.
If there might be a pinched nerve, don't go for surgery as a first option. There are lots of other options to consider, osteopathy for instance can give very good results in these matters.
And do consider that a conventional strap can put a lot of strain on your neck. I use a harness that puts the weight on the shoulders (like this one)

 

[lydian]

+1 on the neck strap. If I don’t position mine just right when playing my very heavy bass sax, I’ll eventually get the symptoms you describe. Harness is better.

 

[Dr G]

I would not expect any different of a response like this, sotw users are great. But yeah nobody else pinched a nerve playing saxophone huh?

The case that I mentioned occurred to a guitar player. FWIW, although it MAY happen, it is not normal - that is to say that it does not happen to most people.

If it is associated with playing the sax, it is likely due to the pressure exerted on the neck - and similarly likely due to poor posture adopted while playing. Either one - or both - could be causal. Or you have have a pinched nerve just due to your anatomy, as is the case for my friend. In his instance, the clearances in the region where the nerve bundle passes through the vertebrae were just too small - and are now surgically altered ("corrected").