# General Mandolin Topics > General Mandolin Discussions >  Palm/Thumb Pain

## GDAE

About a month ago, I started feeling pain in the palm of my left hand, where the thumb extends down into the palm and the fold created where your palm folds when you touch your thumb to your little finger, and up into the wrist.   I laid off practicing for the most part, only practicing a couple of times a week, it got better, so I played with friends on New Year's Eve. A lot.  And it has been hurting ever since.  I haven't touched the mandolin or guitar since.   So I thought I'd try dobro, and find that holding the steel at an angle (up and down, as if to only fret one string) hurts too.

So, while I'm waiting to go to the doctor, is this a place where anyone else has had pain? What did you do for it?

And what instruments could I play if I have to, horror of horrors, give up mandolin?  Everything I can think of either requires being supported by the left hand (most woodwinds) or fretted with the left hand.

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## Ivan Kelsall

If it did get better & feel normal,then i'd guess that you've simply strained the base muscle of your thumb,or you might have a degree of Tendonitis in it. I ocassionally get thumb pain & i know it's with overplaying,so i back off for 2 or 3 days. I also had trigger finger in my left hand middle finger which i sucessfully treated with an anti-inflamatory steroid gel (Piroxicam).I'd try resting up for a while,see if it goes away again & then take it easy on the practice.However,i'd certainly contact your Doc for his opinion & if necessary get a referal to see a specialist.Meanwhile you could try an anti-inflamatory ointment of some description to see if it helps.
Note - buy 'Ointment' (or a Gel) not cream. Ointment penetrates the skin,cream stays on the skin surface,
                                                                                                                                             Ivan

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## Paul Busman

Sounds like it could be this:
http://www.hsrnj.com/MedicalProblems/ThumbArthritis.asp
I have it, and it's no picnic but it's manageable at least so far with anti inflammatories (OTC) and thumb splints.  Mine is the right hand which causes different playing issues.

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## Beanzy

Got to let it heal before going down any other routes. 
It's damaged, give it time.
Then get to the root cause and root it out. 

If you reckon you did it playing rather than lugging baggage or working etc., then there's something in how you use that hand that needs sorting out before getting into normal levels of practice.

I don't know if it'll help; but the only time I've had any pain in just that spot was when I used a pinching type hold on the pick to try to do some fiddly gipsy jazz stuff with a small pick. I'd noticed a lot of the guitar players used it so thought I'd try it. There was something in that hold that made it twinge for me, so I just played the stuff with a more normal closed hand pick hold. Yours may not be due to that, but it's worth looking with a critical eye to see what you can spot. Maybe have some mando playing friends have a look to see if they can spot anything you may miss.

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## Randi Gormley

I have some osteoarthritis in my left thumb joint (lower down than yours, though -- shooting pains down the wrist) and the doctor told me to use OTC anti-inflammatories (aleve, I think) and let it rest. And I had to change the way I held my mandolin, use a straighter grip. But if you are looking for alternative instruments, you can always drift into brass or keyboards, maybe harmonica or something like a bodhran. Do you have a wrist splint? Usually they also cover the pad around the thumb and change the angle of its use slightly. Whichever, it's a real bummer and you have my sympathies, fwiw

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## bruce.b

I get some pain there when I significantly increase my playing time. I'm considering getting a mandolin, electric or resonator, with 4 strings (not 4 courses, 4 individual strings) strung with light strings to play for part of my practice time every day. Mine appears to be an overuse issue and I don't want it to progress. I've only ever had it occur with mandolin playing.

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## tmsweeney

just the other day I was running through Old Mother Flannigan's as fast as I could  (on octave) and blew out my pinky muscle 
the mandolin doesn't bother so much as the octave or mandocello - I really have to reach for the 5th and 6th frets
couldn't even hold the neck - had to flex my hand for a while before I could start playing again - I chose something slow and simple to get back going
I suppose using a squeeze or something to strengthen my hand might help
they all warned me

getting old just plain blows

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