Advice please- index finger joint pain

[neophyte]

Ive been playing for 6 months now and I am completely obcessed with being a good guitar player someday. I seriously play from when I get home from work until I cant take it anymore haha. Probably on average 3-4 hours a day during the week. And sometimes on weekends 6-7 hours.

My problem has been pain and stiffness on my index finger of fretting hand. Always in the mornings it feels stiff. It really bothers me because I want to be able to practice as much as possible and cannot stop even though I have pain.

On a positive note I have made great improments in this little time and have learned to play pretty decent already.

Could it be the way i am playing? Thanks for reading my first post on this site

Ill post some recordings later.

[sfmartins]

Make sure you WARM UP your fingers and your hands a little bit before playing (stretch them, rotate them, massage them, play slow stuff, etc.)

Also make some pauses (2-3 minutes) when necessary and BE RELAXED when playing. Try to avoid unnecessary stresses on your finger.

Anyway, it's pretty natural that it hurts with that amount of play...

[ut4ever8]

i had that same problem, same addiction to playing too, warming up helps alot, also your hands eventually just get used to the playing and stretching, i thought my hand was going to split when i played some dave songs, but eventually it just went away

[neophyte]

Awesome thanks for the fast replies. I saw the last poster is in Cincinnati...me too. we should play sometime

I'll give that a try with warming up, stretching, ect...

[ut4ever8]

im from cincinnati, i go to school and live in lexington, i would play sometime but im in cincinnati once every three months

[sunglassesatnight]

im from cincinnati, i go to school and live in lexington, i would play sometime but im in cincinnati once every three months

Excuse me? Tell me we have another Wildcat on the board. Please!

[ut4ever8]

because one just isnt enough, gotta represent

[sunglassesatnight]

One is definitely not enough. Hang around and venture into nDMB when basketball season starts. I'm afraid it's going to be ugly again.

[ut4ever8]

ill be here, you stayin in lexington over the summer?

[Hydro120]

yeah, just make sure you aren't pressing the strings down unneccessarily hard with your fretting hand.

do you play a lot of chord-based songs, or a lot of single-note-based songs?

id say make sure you're pressing with your fingertips as well, and not the pads of your fingers (as a general rule, but there are times when this is just not possible. no need to put unnessary stress on your fingers).

and your hands should feel comfortable and relaxed (unless you're playing "crazy" )

[neophyte]

Yeah I know that most of the time I am probably pressing down on the stings harder than needed. I need to try and press lighter. It just seems that I need to press hard to make it sound good.

I know im definitely using my finger tips cause they are literally destroyed! I have very green(from the strings) caullosed fingertips/

Did you guys have this when you first started playing? or am I just crazy for playing so damn much

[sunglassesatnight]

ill be here, you stayin in lexington over the summer?

Sure am. By the way, I'm trying to start up a guitar club here if you're interested.

[ut4ever8]

im interested, i was gonna come to that meeting but i was out of town i think, couldnt make it

[a1075dd63aa12]

im interested, i was gonna come to that meeting but i was out of town i think, couldnt make it

what part of cincy are you from?

[matonfan101]

Ive been playing for 6 months now and I am completely obcessed with being a good guitar player someday. I seriously play from when I get home from work until I cant take it anymore haha. Probably on average 3-4 hours a day during the week. And sometimes on weekends 6-7 hours.

My problem has been pain and stiffness on my index finger of fretting hand. Always in the mornings it feels stiff. It really bothers me because I want to be able to practice as much as possible and cannot stop even though I have pain.

On a positive note I have made great improments in this little time and have learned to play pretty decent already.

Could it be the way i am playing? Thanks for reading my first post on this site

Ill post some recordings later.

I was always told playing through pain is not a good idea on a regular basis. Always stop and have a break when your hand starts hurting otherwise you could do some serious damage.