Forearm Pain

Charlie

Junior Member
Hello guys,

Basically about 5 weeks ago I noticed pain on my inner forearm about 2inch down from my elbow whilst I was practising, naturally I decided it was just a bit of nothing but thought best to give it a rest for that day. I came back to practise the day after and the same pain occured so I stopped again, luckily I was on a holiday from music college so I went home for the remainder of the holiday to rest my arm and now 5 weeks later I'm back at college and the pain is still there. I've been to see a Doctor and she sort of had a quick glance and decided it was tendonitis (which I was afraid of) and booked me to have a cortosone injection.
So yeah, I'd love to get any feedback from what you guys think, because i'm not keen on the idea of an injection, as i'm not even sure if it is tendonitis?
Any advise would be mucho appreciated and sorry for the long ramble but yeah i'm getting pretty desperate and worried as no one will give me a straight answer about what I might have and what measures I can take to help it, or how long it will take etc

Thanks very much in advance :)
 
That sounds like tendonitis, and if it is, stop drumming with that arm. Tendonitis is inflammation or irritation of a tendon. In drumming, stress and overuse can cause micro-tears. This problem usually rights itself if you stop the activity that causes it. You need to allow it to rest for at least 3 weeks. If it is very bad, you may want to immobilize it (with a sling) and use anti-inflammatory medication.

I've had a touch of tendonitis a couple times, and it does go away if you're careful and treat it well. Good luck!
 
Cheers for the advise :)

I've had it in a support for about a month and haven't played, but it the pain just comes and goes, it doesn't hurt much, it's quite mild but I think that's due to me stopping playing pretty much as soon as I felt it. On the other hand it's definately not going away and it has been about 5 weeks now. Do you know of anything that is similar to tendonitis, but perhaps not a full blown version? What do people think of the cortosone shot?

Cheers, Charlie
 
I went through tendonitis (and a bit of carpal tunnel right now) for about 2 yrs. I went through PT and they used a method called "ASTYM" - which is a fancy mouthful of an acronym meaning a scraping, deep-tissue massage. It has instant results and is simple. It's based on a Chinese method called "Gua Sha". I bought some simple Gua Sha tools on eBay for $40 and decided it wasn't anything I couldn't do myself, when I got extra sore. I quit PT and took care of it myself.

Today I don't have any pain but I get sore from time-to-time. Carpal tunnel gives me problems occasionally with tingling and abnormal sensations in my right hand....but it's all manageable and minimal now that I've improved my hand technique, considerably.

Cortisone injections can cause more damage over time than they will do good. Every doc I talked to advised me to avoid them. The injections will wear down tendon tissue and will make the issue much worse, later on. It's only a temporary band-aid, anyhow, not a solution.

Check out ASTYM/Gua Sha, which is a solution that gives you immediate results. No rest or time off required. In fact, you're encouraged to do as much as possible while doing the therapy.
 
Cheers for the advise :)

I've had it in a support for about a month and haven't played, but it the pain just comes and goes, it doesn't hurt much, it's quite mild but I think that's due to me stopping playing pretty much as soon as I felt it. On the other hand it's definately not going away and it has been about 5 weeks now. Do you know of anything that is similar to tendonitis, but perhaps not a full blown version? What do people think of the cortosone shot?

Cheers, Charlie

Hmm, that is interesting. I missed the part where you said you rested it for those 5 weeks. This may not be tendonitis at all. Can you say definitively what motions cause the pain? And is there any swelling and inflammation?
 
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Hope your better soon.

I do Yoga and that seems to help a lot with all these issues.
Kind regards
PM
 
Yeah that's what I was thinking about the cortosone, it seems pretty aggressive just to inject it and i'm only 19 so I can't afford to have any long term tendon breakdown.
I will definately look at the deep-tissue massage i think there is a lot to be said for alternative health methods, thankyou for the advise :)

I can't see any swelling and the pain is mild, but i imagine that's the inflamation, the motions that cause it can be quite random, there's nothing inparticular that brings it out apart from drumming, although sometimes after i've driven somewhere it can hurt, but i've been making a conscious effort not to use it in day to day life.

Cheers for the support Phil! I saw you at a masterclass as ACM and you were awesome man! It's comforting to know that even the pro's suffer from generic problems

Thanks, Charlie
 
Cortisone injections can cause more damage over time than they will do good. Every doc I talked to advised me to avoid them. The injections will wear down tendon tissue and will make the issue much worse, later on. It's only a temporary band-aid, anyhow, not a solution.

AGREE!!!!!! I'd save cortisone for an absolute last resort.

anti-inflammatories (ibuprofen, naproxen sodium), ICE, rest - followed by PT. You can also alternate ice and heat once the intitial inflammation is gone to stimulate circulation.
 
Yeah that's what I was thinking about the cortosone, it seems pretty aggressive just to inject it and i'm only 19 so I can't afford to have any long term tendon breakdown.
I will definately look at the deep-tissue massage i think there is a lot to be said for alternative health methods, thankyou for the advise :)

I can't see any swelling and the pain is mild, but i imagine that's the inflamation, the motions that cause it can be quite random, there's nothing inparticular that brings it out apart from drumming, although sometimes after i've driven somewhere it can hurt, but i've been making a conscious effort not to use it in day to day life.

Cheers for the support Phil! I saw you at a masterclass as ACM and you were awesome man! It's comforting to know that even the pro's suffer from generic problems

Thanks, Charlie

My stuff that I had was caused from computer work. Not drumming. In fact when I played it went away!! I would like to know what else you do with the hands? A lot of typing? Mechanical work? Weightlifting? There are a few things that can make the pain that you describe. If you think its from drumming I would look into all aspects of technique. Especially investigate the use of your rebound strokes. if you dont use rebound stroke and wrist all your rudiments for example...its big trouble.

I can relate to your fears because so many people I know have these problem. Its a real scary thing. Guitar players , keyboard players, all suffer from this. I have seen students at different schools around the world end up in the hospital and not able to play for up to 6 months! Its serious business.

I hope I can help you anyway I can. This first thing though...have you ever studied pure rebound systems? Do you grip the sticks real tight? Tense your shoulders and the rest of your body? Ever filmed yourself playing? Thats a good way to find out.

Anyway I feel for you my bro.

Thanks for the kind words too. ACM is a great school! I'm glad you went there.
All the best
PM
 
At first glance it seems to me your doctor was very perfunctory and did not look into this issue in any depth. "Oh you drum? Carpal tunnel lets inject something." I recommend you visit a sports injury specialist. Get this looked into in depth.

And also if this injury comes solely from drumming, I'd advise you visit a technical expert to check your hand technique to see if there are any problematic issues in your movement.

Believe me, I understand. Having broken 29 bones and torn virtually every muscle while training insanely in martial arts and performing heavy physical labour as a child and who now struggles with arthritis as a result, I know about injury. Have a specialist look at you and good luck.
 
I'm still at the ACM so i'm lucky because I've got some really good tutors looking at my technique and they've all agreed that it's come from just over doing it, as opposed to a technique related problem, I was running a pretty intense daily practise.
However I do use alot of finger control, and i've noticed that when i move my ring finger in my right arm i can see it moving the tendon in the pain area in my arm. But yeah i'm not doing anything else much that i can think of that aggrevated it, I spend all my time drumming :p
Do you think I should be playing through it with my right and playing all from the wrist or should I just keep resting it? Up til now i've been resting it, but it comes and goes quite frequently.
Also, how painful in general is tendonitis supposed to be, because the pain is quite mild/moderate - it's not enough yet to really stop me playing but I imagine it's something that will only get worse

Thankyou, charlie
 
My experience with torn muscles and tired ligaments is if you keep working through it you end up with more problems. This is what I did as a kid performing martial arts. No matter what I kept going and pushing myself. Now as a middle aged man I am in all sorts of trouble.

Take it seriously, get it checked by someone who knows what they are doing. Seriously I am a professional drummer who is scared to death that all my hard work is going to come crashing down around my feet because my old body has suffered so much in the past. Funnily no injuries through drumming. But the drumming may suffer.
 
Thank you very much :) I think I just need to hear to keep resting it, because every week or so that goes by i'm wondering whether I can get back to it
It's annoying that so many GP's are so quick to jump to the injections without even having a proper examination - I'll definately get myself to a physio

Thanks, Charlie
 
Thank you very much :) I think I just need to hear to keep resting it, because every week or so that goes by i'm wondering whether I can get back to it
It's annoying that so many GP's are so quick to jump to the injections without even having a proper examination - I'll definately get myself to a physio

Thanks, Charlie

I agree. I went to a sports medicine doc and therapist and I'm glad I did. If you can get a therapist that does ASTYM, you won't need to rest. In fact, you'll be encouraged to play as much as possible.
 
Here is a contrary opinion on the cortisone injections. I injured my right shoulder playing volleyball. Basically combination of bad technique causing severe shoulder inpingement on the tendons. I laid out for a few months and then still had to refrain from hitting. Had PT and MRI's and everything. Nothing torn or damaged. Basically it was inflamation from the inpingement.

So I broke down and had the injection. Now 2 years later I've been able to play at will with no pain (as long as I keep my technique clean). Having the injection reduced the inflamation sufficiently that I was able to recover and avoid reinjury.

This is another one of the reasons I play a smaller kit and keep my ride close at hand. So I'm note reaching up with my right arm. If I sit in on someone's kit with the ride way off to the right, or up in the air, I have to use the hi-hat more or my shoulder will start to get sore.
 
Hi
You may want change your ride approach for awhile...so I'm assuming you use american or german grip..so change to french grip with full arm stroke(from the elbow)...this change in approach will place an emphasis on different muscle groups don't push it! That muscle needs rest....This will help you get through any gigs you may have. Denis
 
Hello guys,
Basically about 5 weeks ago I noticed pain on my inner forearm
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Get a girlfriend.
 
Hi
You may want change your ride approach for awhile...so I'm assuming you use american or german grip..so change to french grip with full arm stroke(from the elbow)...this change in approach will place an emphasis on different muscle groups don't push it! That muscle needs rest....This will help you get through any gigs you may have. Denis

i was using french grip too much and got tendonitis in my wrist, so changing it may not help, just change where the pain is. Just try and relax ( the age old mantra!)....my brother is giving me accupuncture and it does wonders, try and find a good accupuncturist, have about 4 or at most 5 sessions, no matter how bad, the pain is likely to go away, and it will free up you're chi energy to heal itself
 
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