Drumming and Arthritis

[chrishogarth]

I am 35 and have been a Drummer for 20 years.... I try to play everyday and sometimes its every other day. I have noticed over the past two years burning and pain in my feet, hands, neck and chest at various times. The areas that are affected are muscles that are used in drumming. I play very hard, and have been in bands in the past, but mostly now I doing various session stuff, so I am not playing as much as I used to. My wife thinks I might have arthritis caused over the years of playing.

Any similar experiences?

I have been checked for major problems like diabetes and MS etc and everything is negative.

[fiacovaz]

You didn't say if you take any time to stretch and warm up before getting into your practice routine. I'm 61 now and have been playing now for 48 years. My current gig is with an 18 pc. Big Band playing vintage to contemporary big band jazz. I've had to make some slight modifications in how I set my drums and cymbals and the throne in relation to the entire kit. I make absolutely certain that I am very comfortable when I sit down to play. I have played with Traditional grip all this time and, only recently, have changed over to playing Matched grip as well. I do have a little problem with Arthritis in my low back and hands, though not as much as the back. As with you, I have had myself checked out by my Dr. Everything is still fine with me. So, I would simply suggest that you take some time and make certain that everything you do behind your drums is from being comfortable...and you do that by doing some simple exercises to stretch your limbs and loosen up. BTW, welcome to the Forum. Let us know how things work for you.

[Church Drummer]

Arthritis normally occurs in the joints, I think you said your pain was in your muscles. If it's really a problem for you I would consult your physician. Keeping yourself in good physical condition, and stretching should help. I've got a lot of arthritis pain in my left hand, and had to adjust my guitar playing to lessen the tension I used to fret the strings, and I went to a lighter string guage on my acoustics, and sold the 12 string. Sometimes you just gotta make adjustments.

[seanforever]

Arthritis is the inflamattion of your joints

there has been no link between drumming and arthritis

my suggestion - start up a warmup/stretch routine, and take a big look at your technique

when i started i used to get horrible wrist cramping. i re-setup my drums and took a long look at my hand position, switched everything up and now i play flawlessly

[STICKSWIZZARDDRAGON]

Arthritis is the inflamattion of your joints

there has been no link between drumming and arthritis

my suggestion - start up a warmup/stretch routine, and take a big look at your technique

when i started i used to get horrible wrist cramping. i re-setup my drums and took a long look at my hand position, switched everything up and now i play flawlessly

HOLA como estas SEANFOREVER* MI AMIGO CREATIVE ARTISTIC
DRUMMER ARTIST(CAT) EXCELLENTE' *LOVE IT **GRACIAS

[Scooter]

Aleve works wonder for me.

[bongobro]

Have you checked with your doctor about carpal tunnel syndrome or some other repetitive stress injury?

Let's face it, Chris, drumming is a repetitive procedure; my long-time drum teacher (and long-time buddy) had to undergo surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome on both his hands; he's in his late 60s and has played drums since he was a teenager in the late 50s.

Stretching is an excellent idea, and, if you can tolerate it, aspirin works well, too.

Let us know what you've discovered--and welcome to DrumChat!

[Larrysperf]

I have arthritis & drumming seems to help it but I warm up now more than I used to.

[sonorkid]

I am 35 and have been a Drummer for 20 years.... I try to play everyday and sometimes its every other day. I have noticed over the past two years burning and pain in my feet, hands, neck and chest at various times. The areas that are affected are muscles that are used in drumming. I play very hard, and have been in bands in the past, but mostly now I doing various session stuff, so I am not playing as much as I used to. My wife thinks I might have arthritis caused over the years of playing.

Any similar experiences?

I have been checked for major problems like diabetes and MS etc and everything is negative.

Not a Dr. by any stretch of the imagination, but are you having any tingling/numbness anywhere?? Reason I ask is that I have a bad disc in my neck and when it used to pinch a nerve it mimics a lot of the symptoms you're describing minus the lower extremities discomfort. Wondering if this is not the case for you given your young age. Take this for what it's worth, but if your M.D. can't give you an explanation then consider checking in with a Chiropractor. Just my humble opinion

SK

[bassist learning drums]

Where is PB when we need him?

Chiropractors are way better than doctors to me.

[Norske]

I think you definitely need to take this further and get some tests done to determine exactly what it might be. I've had instances where one hand will cramp up on me, usually due to stress, and I have some arthritis in my feet, diagnosed when I had a motorcyle accident a couple of years back. My orthopedic surgeon knew it immediately when he examined my feet, so if it were arthritis, I would think your doctor would be able to spot that. But drumming has no effect on bringing on any pain in my feet whatsoever.

My biggest concern is the fact that your chest and neck are involved. I don't think those are areas where you would commonly see arthritis (and no, I'm not a doctor either, though I did sleep in a Holiday Inn Express once).

If this has been occurring for 2 years, you need to take it seriously and get it checked further IMHO. It just doesn't sound like what typical arthritis sufferers have.

[ratmycue]

[QUOTE=Norske;119946]and no, I'm not a doctor either, though I did sleep in a Holiday Inn Express once).

[scruffyeagle]

Ibuprofen helps my arthritis. I think it's a better choice than aspirin, because aspirin is an anti-coagulant, whereas ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory. When the pain's bad, I take one just before bed. It seems to help my body do whatever healing it's capable of while I sleep - and, then I'm in less pain for most of the next day.

If you think you have arthritis, then you probably do - but, there's no replacing proper medical testing. Note, that there's 2 forms of arthritis. Osteo form (which is what I have) doesn't react much to the precipitation (rain, fog, etc.), whereas the Rheumatoid form does. It's just temperature, and activity levels, that makes a difference with my arthritis. I'd suggest keeping a diary logbook of your condition, and any events or conditions that also happened that you think might have affected it.

[CycleDude]

(and no, I'm not a doctor either, though I did sleep in a Holiday Inn Express once).

[jim]

Hi CD
Jim here.
There has been some good advice so far on this topic worth reading.
I agree with some of the others - what you are describing is extremely unlikely to be arthritis - more tendonitis or some other form of RSI. Not all RSI is tendon related - some is muscular, but much is tendon and ligament related.

If you are having that much pain, then definitely something needs to change.

Definitely sounds like your grip might be too tight. If the stick is sweaty and slippery and you are playing so hard, then that would add to the problem. It would have to be a real death grip to extend the issue right up to your neck, but it is not uncommon if you are making strokes a lot from your shoulders.

As strange as it may seem - 95% of the time this sort of thing comes down to a general weakness in the fulcrum between thumb and index finger. Once that becomes unable to hold the stick, the other fingers clamp it and the movement becomes limited to the next joint up the arm - wrist - and this can progress in a similar fashion up to elbow, shoulder etc.

I still remember my very first drum teacher so many years ago - he was 80yo when he died and was teaching to the last day. He had bad arthritis in the hands due to other things, but the drumming always HELPED it he claimed - by keeping the joints moving with little stress on them.

I'll make the same offer I'm making a few others in this forum - If you want to post a vid on youtube of your playing, I'll take a look for you and give a more informed idea of what's going on. Technique analysis is what I do for a living, so it's not too much trouble for me.
Wishing you the best.
Jim