# Technique, Theory, Playing Tips and Tricks > Theory, Technique, Tips and Tricks >  Thumb Pain

## Sherry Cadenhead

I did a "thumb" search in the Cafe, but what came up didn't seem relevant.  I know lots has been said about thumbs and thumb pain specifically.  If someone can direct me to a particular post, I'll be glad to look for it.

I know I press too hard with my thumb, but, try as I do, I can't seem to let up the pressure.  I would appreciate suggestions for overcoming this problem.  I might add I'm noticing the pain more as I'm learning 2nd position; however, it was first evident when practicing 3 finger chords.

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## Bill McCall

I have to be careful about this, so I try to point my thumb parallel with the neck, so I’m not gripping it.  I also try to keep my wrist straight and not fold it backwards which leads to gripping, for me.

This may not be the best way to manage, but it’s helped me avoid straining the thumb tendon, which I have done in the past.

If you search using Google ‘site mandolincafe.com: thumb pain’ you get results.  You can also search on ‘tendinitis’.

Be patient, careful and gentle.  Injuries can be slow to heal.

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Sherry Cadenhead

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## Tom Wright

Various parts of you will hurt as you progress. These are signs of things to watch out for, but don't worry that it will be a permanent problem.

Partly it just is toughening up needed, but the deeper issue is normal and inescapable. At first your fingers and muscles lack precision, of course. So it is normal to use extra effort. As you progress you will naturally use less effort. It helps to try, but one can only pay attention to one, or a couple of things at a time. So as you try to use minimal effort, you start making more mistakes. Then you switch attention back to getting notes to speak, and things start to hurt from the excessive pressure.

This challenge is felt by all players at every stage. I still deal with it when practicing new material, or trying to get familiar but not perfected tunes to sound clean. I've been plying violin, viola, or guitar, and mandolin of course, for 65 years, and the issue is always present for me when learning new stuff. When ai got my first 10-string I was so excited to learn cool things I could do that I got blisters on the inside of left hand thumb and index side knuckle. I had to wear a fingerless glove to practice.

It gets better. Don't try to play through hurt, though. Back off and wait a bit, or practice just being loose. You can't everything at once, and do watch out for pains, especially arm joints.

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Sherry Cadenhead

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## Sherry Cadenhead

> If you search using Google ‘site mandolincafe.com: thumb pain’ you get results.


Thanks, Bill.  I just used this approach to search "chord notation."  It seems with a slash(?) chord, generally the top chord is played.

Looks like I stepped on my own thread.

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## Jim Garber

Sherry: are you working with a teacher or on your own. I am not sure why you would feel pain in your thumb unless your action is too high or you are positioning your noting hand improperly. I would consult with someone who can assess your hand position. Perhaps one video lesson might be helpful if you haven’t already.

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## Sherry Cadenhead

> Sherry: are you working with a teacher or on your own. I am not sure why you would feel pain in your thumb unless your action is too high or you are positioning your noting hand improperly. I would consult with someone who can assess your hand position. Perhaps one video lesson might be helpful if you haven’t already.


My teacher is a professional violinist. She says to let up on the pressure. I'm  trying.

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## Jim Garber

> My teacher is a professional violinist. She says to let up on the pressure. I'm  trying.


Does your teacher play Mandolin professionally? Sorry but mechanics for playing violin are very different for mandolin. Your teacher may be excellent and is probably correct but it might be advantageous to consult with a professional mandolinist especially if you continue to have this pain. Even one video consultation with someone who can diagnose what it is that you are doing wrong would be fine. No one here can truly help you. The most we can do is guess.

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Sherry Cadenhead

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## Sherry Cadenhead

> Does your teacher play Mandolin professionally?


She does not, although she is an excellent teacher.  She plays in 2 professional orchestras and has had her teaching studio for many years. She was my son's violin teacher for about 8 years, over which time we became good friends.

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## pops1

Sherry let the neck rest in your palm right between your thumb and your index finger. Try playing that way, your thumb will go along side your neck and not really have any pressure on it. As Jim says it's different with a violin and a mandolin doesn't need the thumb behind the neck.

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Sherry Cadenhead

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## Mandophyte

Here's the way to do it, by Mike Marshall: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NmagoBQunZI

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deanf11, 

Sherry Cadenhead

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## Sherry Cadenhead

I will try some of these suggestions.  I haven't mentioned I have osteoarthritis in both hands.  Thankfully, the left hand isn't as bad as the right.  It might be a contributing factor, though the trouble started when I tried focusing on 3 finger chords.  I probably should not have kept playing through the pain.

I did the search today that Bill recommended.  Has anyone tried WonderThumb?

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## Peter Coronado

Hi Sherry.  Cafe member Pete Martin teaches fiddle and mandolin. His website petimarpress.com specifically mentions ergonomics.  He has a video on Minimum Left Hand Pressure. I’ve purchased some of his books but I have never taken his lessons.  Great books!  Pleasant, knowledgeable fellow. NFI on my part.

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## Sherry Cadenhead

> Hi Sherry.  Cafe member Pete Martin teaches fiddle and mandolin. His website petimarpress.com specifically mentions ergonomics.  He has a video on Minimum Left Hand Pressure. I’ve purchased some of his books but I have never taken his lessons.  Great books!  Pleasant, knowledgeable fellow. NFI on my part.


Thanks, Peter. I have some of Pete's materials, specifically relating to double stops. Been thinking of brushing the dust off them

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## Sherry Cadenhead

> I have to be careful about this, so I try to point my thumb parallel with the neck, so I’m not gripping it.  I also try to keep my wrist straight and not fold it backwards which leads to gripping, for me.


I think I'm pretty good about keeping my wrist straight. I tried the thumb adjustment you suggested, which was a subtle change,  but really seemed to help.

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## Dave Sheets

Have you got a good setup on your mandolin?  String height at the nut influences how "stiff" the strings feel, and how much pressure you feel you need to exert in the left hand.  A good set-up will minimize this.   

It's not as important as the hand position is, but instruments do feel better with a good setup.

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## Sherry Cadenhead

> Have you got a good setup on your mandolin?  String height at the nut influences how "stiff" the strings feel, and how much pressure you feel you need to exert in the left hand.  A good set-up will minimize this.   
> 
> It's not as important as the hand position is, but instruments do feel better with a good setup.


Thanks, Dave.  Wish setup were the problem, but that's been ruled out.

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## Jon Hall

Hey Sherry, it's possible that the strain in your thumb might be from compensating for finger strength. Have you tried exercising your fingers with one of the resistance finger exercisers?

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## Mandolin Cafe

It's pretty simple to find all of the threads on this forum referencing this... and some about thumb wheels. Click Advanced Search, enter "thumb" (minus the quotes) and select search titles only. There's a reason Google is a multiple billion dollar company, the greatest landing spot on the internet and the makers of this forum software, not. The default search field on every Forum page is just not that useful on a forum of this size. The software makers of this forum are only slightly better than yours truly at search programming. This forum's default search is not intuitive, does not perform auto correction, and has zero artificial intelligence, but if provided the proper instructions is actually quite good at finding content, and in this case returns a pretty amazing amount of information if drill down to all the results. I lean heavily on Google's search tools as well, but many times get better results doing this. YMMV.  See example below.

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Jim Garber

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## Sherry Cadenhead

> Hey Sherry, it's possible that the strain in your thumb might be from compensating for finger strength. Have you tried exercising your fingers with one of the resistance finger exercisers?


Thanks, Jon!  I wondered if you were "listening!"  Especially after following the "Double Standard" thread, I'm now afraid not to try my own research before posting.  Now if I can just remember to do that, considering I'm not a good researcher.  Anyway, I've now done a search on resistance finger exercisers, which I'd never before heard of.  They seem like a good idea, especially for developing finger independence, which I'm also working on.  I don't see a particular recommendation for an exerciser.  There is an old post from 2004 where a guy said he overdid it with an exerciser and couldn't play for months.  I'm willing to give it a try if you, or someone, can recommend a particular one.  I have a ball I use to strengthen my hand - when I think about using it.

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## Sherry Cadenhead

> It's pretty simple to find all of the threads on this forum referencing this... and some about thumb wheels. Click Advanced Search, enter "thumb" (minus the quotes) and select search titles only. There's a reason Google is a multiple billion dollar company, the greatest landing spot on the internet and the makers of this forum software, not. The default search field on every Forum page is just not that useful on a forum of this size. The software makers of this forum are only slightly better than yours truly at search programming. This forum's default search is not intuitive, does not perform auto correction, and has zero artificial intelligence, but if provided the proper instructions is actually quite good at finding content, and in this case returns a pretty amazing amount of information if drill down to all the results. I lean heavily on Google's search tools as well, but many times get better results doing this. YMMV.  See example below.


Thank you.  I tried to search how to bookmark this post.  Is there a way to do it?  If not, I can always refer back to my threads; however, I figure everyone except me knows how to bookmark in the Cafe.

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## Mandolin Cafe

> Thank you.  I tried to search how to bookmark this post.  Is there a way to do it?  If not, I can always refer back to my threads; however, I figure everyone except me knows how to bookmark in the Cafe.


Click on the number with a hashtag in the upper right hand corner of the post next to a number. In this case it'd be #19. That's the exact URL or web address of that post. Or just click this and bookmark it. It's not exact a well known feature I'd speculate, but it's an easy way for folks to link to an exact post.

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Jean Andreasen, 

Sherry Cadenhead

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## CarlM

There are two valuable exercises I have found regarding finger pressure to help train your hands and brain how hard to not push.  These both changed my understanding and conception of finger pressure.

The first is to touch the string with no pressure at any particular fret position.  It is good to try this exercise at a variety of positions.  Pick back and forth on the string course getting a muted click.  You should be damping the string with no significant pressure.  As you pick back and forth clicking gradually increase the pressure till the note begins to sound.  Once it sounds with no buzzes or rattles that is all the harder you need to press.  Anything more wears the frets, wears the strings, hurts your fingers and joints, pulls the strings slightly out of tune, slows you down, makes your tone worse; all of the effects bad and no good results to trade off.  You can reverse this exercise by pressing normally then gradually letting up pressure till the note just begins to rattle.  Just before the rattle is all the harder you want to press.   Most people find it takes far less pressure to get a good sound than they had ever thought.  I do this every so often if I find myself gripping too hard.  I heard this exercise third hand but it originated from a guitar clinic someone took with Pepe Romero.  I found this approach works better than just saying "Grip lighter" because it gives an actual pressure to shoot for.

The second exercise is to place your hands above the first four fret positions. Lightly touch the positions one at a time moving up and down at all four fret positions and across all four strings.  Do not pick with the right hand, just move the left hand.  The goal is to place the finger properly each time, just behind the fret, and to move the string course as little as possible, just touching it and not moving it.  Move up to the second four frets and repeat up and down all strings.  Do this for a few minutes each day moving up by positions or until you get bored.  This will help train your fingers to touch more lightly.

Of course proper finger placement, just behind the fret, not on top and not in between is necessary.  Most people try to make up for finger placement being a little off by pressing harder.  Then it becomes a vicious circle.

Good luck and I hope some of this helps.

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Jean Andreasen, 

Sherry Cadenhead, 

Sue Rieter

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## Jon Hall

> Thanks, Jon!  I wondered if you were "listening!"  Especially after following the "Double Standard" thread, I'm now afraid not to try my own research before posting.  Now if I can just remember to do that, considering I'm not a good researcher.  Anyway, I've now done a search on resistance finger exercisers, which I'd never before heard of.  They seem like a good idea, especially for developing finger independence, which I'm also working on.  I don't see a particular recommendation for an exerciser.  There is an old post from 2004 where a guy said he overdid it with an exerciser and couldn't play for months.  I'm willing to give it a try if you, or someone, can recommend a particular one.  I have a ball I use to strengthen my hand - when I think about using it.


Some of the exercisers are graduated in the degree of resistance. I would suggest trying the model with the least resistance first. Is it just your thumb that hurts or do your fingers hurt as well?

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## Sherry Cadenhead

> Some of the exercisers are graduated in the degree of resistance. I would suggest trying the model with the least resistance first. Is it just your thumb that hurts or do your fingers hurt as well?


Just the thumb.

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## Jon Hall

The resistance exerciser doesn't involve your thumb. If you try one of the exercisers. I think you'll find it works different muscles than exercise ball. Don't expect overnight results. You know how exercise is. If you want to discuss at length email me or we could talk at a convenient time.

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Sherry Cadenhead

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## ralph johansson

> Sherry let the neck rest in your palm right between your thumb and your index finger. Try playing that way, your thumb will go along side your neck and not really have any pressure on it. As Jim says it's different with a violin and a mandolin doesn't need the thumb behind the neck.


NO! Cradling or palming the neck will severely restrict the mobility and reach of your fingers. The basic rule is: your left hand is there to stop the strings, not hold or support the neck. My approach therefore has always been to secure the mandolin in place, using a strap or points or a portion of my right forearm, then just bring my left hand to the neck and start playing. The thumb lands where it lands, mostly on the side. Going up the neck, it may trail behind, barring (which I rarely do) it will slide in below the neck. I don't worry about that since I have almost no control over it (e.g., extending my hand, palm up, the thumb will stand at an angle to my palm; I can fold it inwards but not outwards.)

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Jean Andreasen, 

Sherry Cadenhead

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## pops1

> NO! Cradling or palming the neck will severely restrict the mobility and reach of your fingers. The basic rule is: your left hand is there to stop the strings, not hold or support the neck. My approach therefore has always been to secure the mandolin in place, using a strap or points or a portion of my right forearm, then just bring my left hand to the neck and start playing. The thumb lands where it lands, mostly on the side. Going up the neck, it may trail behind, barring (which I rarely do) it will slide in below the neck. I don't worry about that since I have almost no control over it (e.g., extending my hand, palm up, the thumb will stand at an angle to my palm; I can fold it inwards but not outwards.)


I may have stated it wrong, but the video of Mike Marshall showing how to hold the mandolin is exactly what i was talking about.

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## ralph johansson

> I may have stated it wrong, but the video of Mike Marshall showing how to hold the mandolin is exactly what i was talking about.


I heartily recommend that video, but you did use the words "palm" and "rest".

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## pops1

> I heartily recommend that video, but you did use the words "palm" and "rest".


I did and I should have said to rest just between the thumb and first finger and not mentioned palm. Just trying to get her to the right place without a pic.

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## chris.burcher

I'll add that the neck shape, for me, can greatly affect thumb pain. In my case, I played a newer Weber mandolin with a very CEE shaped neck. I called it a 'baseball bat'. Prior to this most of my mandos had a more VEE shape but I never really noticed that much. After playing the CEE neck for a few weeks I developed a terrible thumb pain at the finger print and all over the thumb joint area of my hand that would persist even when not playing. I also developed a little tendonitis in my left elbow. As an experiment I stopped playing the Weber and went back to a very slim (1/16") nut VEE shaped mando and the thumb pain disappeared. I certainly can't say this is causal, but it worked for me. I sold the CEE shape and now look for very pronounce VEE neck profiles. I can even feel thumb pain if I play other more CEE shaped necks just for a few minutes now (could be phantom pain, I don't know). YMMV, of course, but I was amazed at this 'experiment', despite it having zero degrees of freedom and an n of 1.  

I'm sure proper hand position is a HUGE part, and I have also made a better effort to strive for better left hand position on the neck. But I 'believe' there's something to 'if the neck fits, play it' (or, more importantly, DON'T play it if it DOESN'T) approach.

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Sherry Cadenhead

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## Pete Martin

Sorry I didn't see this sooner.  Sherry, watch these two videos and see if they help.

Left hand ergonomics
https://youtu.be/xrs2549QNsg

Holding the mandolin
https://youtu.be/0mDNJnKVO6A

Best of luck!

Pete

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## Pete Martin

Also this one
https://youtu.be/CT_TvgIHSAw

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## Sherry Cadenhead

Thanks for the videos, Pete.  I know I've watched one previously, but not the other two.  Can't find #5 (pinky exercises) on your website.  Can you please post it or direct me to it?

I know I have a problem with left hand pressure.  It's really hard for me to let up, but I know it will help me if I do.

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## Sherry Cadenhead

> I'll add that the neck shape, for me, can greatly affect thumb pain. In my case, I played a newer Weber mandolin with a very CEE shaped neck. I called it a 'baseball bat'. Prior to this most of my mandos had a more VEE shape but I never really noticed that much. After playing the CEE neck for a few weeks I developed a terrible thumb pain at the finger print and all over the thumb joint area of my hand that would persist even when not playing. I also developed a little tendonitis in my left elbow. As an experiment I stopped playing the Weber and went back to a very slim (1/16") nut VEE shaped mando and the thumb pain disappeared. I certainly can't say this is causal, but it worked for me. I sold the CEE shape and now look for very pronounce VEE neck profiles. I can even feel thumb pain if I play other more CEE shaped necks just for a few minutes now (could be phantom pain, I don't know). YMMV, of course, but I was amazed at this 'experiment', despite it having zero degrees of freedom and an n of 1.  
> 
> I'm sure proper hand position is a HUGE part, and I have also made a better effort to strive for better left hand position on the neck. But I 'believe' there's something to 'if the neck fits, play it' (or, more importantly, DON'T play it if it DOESN'T) approach.


Chris, can you elaborate on the CEE and VEE shapes?.  I don't know what I have, but I can tell you the backside of the neck is very rounded.

My instrument is an Alvarez A-100.  Had planned to upgrade this year, but a local teacher says there's nothing wrong with mine, so why replace it.  Also, I played it for nearly 5 years before the pain started with "forcing" 3 finger chords (and pressing too hard in the process).

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## Ranald

Pete Matin's pinky exercises (they're very helpful):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wyX...ature=youtu.be

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## Sherry Cadenhead

> Pete Matin's pinky exercises (they're very helpful):
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wyX...ature=youtu.be


Thanks, Ranald.  I just now realized you posted the link! Can't watch the whole thing right now, but I can tell you my 2nd and 3rd fingers are joined at the hip, wanting to do everything together.  Fortunately, reaching with the 4th finger is not a problem for me.  Anyway, looks like this is a great video, and not just for the pinkie.

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## Ranald

> Thanks, Ranald.  I just now realized you posted the link! Can't watch the whole thing right now, but I can tell you my 2nd and 3rd fingers are joined at the hip, wanting to do everything together.  Fortunately, reaching with the 4th finger is not a problem for me.  Anyway, looks like this is a great video, and not just for the pinkie.


Thanks, Sherry. My sweetheart gave me a D'Addario Varigrip Hand exerciser a few days ago, with finger buttons that can be pushed all together or one at a time. My pinky is weak as the result of a broken wrist and related injuries. I know that's not your issue. I've been using the device for a few days and find it helpful, though I have to be careful to limit myself to about five minutes at a time so I don't overdo it. I can't give you a six-month report though. Another exercise I find helpful is to lay my left hand palm down on a surface, and lift the fingers one by one, then bending the finger and pressing down as I would on the strings. Over time, my fingers have become used to moving independently. However, when I look at this week's Mandolin Mondays video (#243), I know that I can't bend my fingers like Josh Turner does. I'm old and arthritic now, but I'm not sure that I ever could.

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Sherry Cadenhead

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## Sherry Cadenhead

Ranald, I'll try that exercise you mentioned. You might check out my "Developing Finger Independence " thread. I've been doing Brad Laird's finger exercises.

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## Sue Rieter

I read the above post, went to Amazon, and bought one of those D'Addario hand exercisers yesterday. What do you know, I already have it today along with a little stool for my foot.

I learned that my pinky is even wimpier than I thought.
(I've also done those Pete Martin pinky exercises, but not in awhile.)

Thanks, Ranald, for that suggestion  :Smile: 

Sherry, I will have to look at those Brad Laird exercises, too.

Sue

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Ranald

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## lowtone2

Didn't want to start a new thread, so... I'm getting a lot of left hand thumb pain at the base of my thumb, after buying a new instrument with taller frets. I am accustomed to playing fretless instruments, where you have to press the string all the way to the wood, and I think that's probably why. So somehow I have to train myself to only use minimum pressure, or a very nice mandolin is going to be on the market. 

My ergonomics are good, and I'm very experienced, but this is beginning to worry me. At one point that hand was so painful and weak i couldn't squeeze a fingernail clipper. I have to be able to play!

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## Mark Gunter

Injuries like that suck! The main cure for such is rest. Try not to play if you feel the pain. If you can work around an injured digit in a way to avoid irritating the injury, that's one thing, but it is not good to keep doing whatever it is that cause this while it needs healing.

I have pain due to age and arthritis, and usually work through it. But pains due to injury from playing in a manner I'm not used to, those pains call for rest from what you are doing so that your body can heal. Be careful, have fun.

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lowtone2

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## Bill McCall

> ....I’m getting a lot of left hand thumb pain at the base of my thumb, after buying a new instrument with taller frets.
> 
> My ergonomics are good, and I'm very experienced, but this is beginning to worry me. At one point that hand was so painful and weak i couldn't squeeze a fingernail clipper. I have to be able to play!


Your ergonomics aren’t the best since you’re getting thumb pain.  To avoid gripping hard, point your thumb down the neck.  It makes it hard to try to crush the neck, which is not necessary.  

Or look up D’Quervain’s syndrome, which sounds similar to what you’re experiencing.  An irritated thumb joint can be very slow to heal.  Guess how I know this.

Rest is your friend.  Anti inflammatories can also help relieve the discomfort.

Good luck.

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lowtone2

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## lowtone2

> Your ergonomics arent the best since youre getting thumb pain.  To avoid gripping hard, point your thumb down the neck.  It makes it hard to try to crush the neck, which is not necessary.  
> 
> Or look up DQuervains syndrome, which sounds similar to what youre experiencing.  An irritated thumb joint can be very slow to heal.  Guess how I know this.
> 
> Rest is your friend.  Anti inflammatories can also help relieve the discomfort.
> 
> Good luck.


Yes, thanks for giving it a name, I think that's right. Some kind of repetitive motion injury, now I have a name. 

I have taken several breaks from playing mandolin, gets better, but then as soon as I pick it back up, it returns. Ice and anti-inflammatories help. Some stretches have potential I think.  

But I think you're wrong about hand position. I'm squeezing too hard, plus my thumb is angled back towards the headstock too much, and that's a very inefficient way to work the hand. It puts too much lateral stress on that joint, not how the thumb is supposed to work. The neck is a little meatier than I'm accustomed to, and that seems to make me angle the thumb more than normal. Will give myself a little more time to work it out, and then it's off to the hand specialist.

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## Bill McCall

I was suggesting that, for myself, holding the thumb in that manner reinforced the goal of not gripping the neck and only fretting by pushing the fingertips lightly to the fingerboard, sort of pulling my arm with no thumb use at all, at least as a goal.

I’m sure you’ll devise a strategy that allows you a similar result, no pain and healing.

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lowtone2

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## Tony S

Check out Pete Martin's series: https://www.petemartin.info/videos.html

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## lowtone2

> I was suggesting that, for myself, holding the thumb in that manner reinforced the goal of not gripping the neck and only fretting by pushing the fingertips lightly to the fingerboard, sort of pulling my arm with no thumb use at all, at least as a goal.
> 
> I’m sure you’ll devise a strategy that allows you a similar result, no pain and healing.


I hope that's right. I play sax and bass too, and those don't bother my hand, but my hand is affecting how I play those instruments.

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## shaundeane

These thumb pain issues do suck as someone said. Don't forget to check your string height. I have recently discovered that both on my go to mandolin and a recently acquired octave mandolin, the string heights were in the neighborhood of 0.085-ish which I find to be too high. Max Girouard sets his mandolins up as 0.060 on bass side and so that's what I have become used to. When I dropped the action down, my thumb gave an almost audible sigh of relief. Felt a LOT better. Good luck to everyone.

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## JeffD

Does it hurt less if you play really softly?. I discovered I was increasing tension everywhere when playing loud. One exercise I found useful was to play as softly and gently as possible. And then very deliberately slowly raise the volume and feel where I started to increase tension and consciously quit it.

Also, for years I thought I was certainly not holding any of the weight of the mandolin in my left hand. But I checked using the ultimate test, and I was fooling myself. the ultimate test is to let go entirely with your left hand. If the mandolin moves _at all_, you were exerting some left hand effort to keep it from moving. I now check this often while playing, I just let go to assure myself that I am entirely supporting the mandolin without the left hand.

I would also recommend having your blood sugar checked. I know it sounds wackadoodle. But the first symptom of my diabetes was left hand finger, hand, and wrist pain while playing mandolin. Corrected my blood sugar, pain all went away. Like freaking magic. Just something  to think about. Something to rule out.

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## Sherry Cadenhead

I had forgotten about this thread. Haven't had thumb pain in some time now. Don't know why not at this point.

Interesting about blood sugar.

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## maxr

Is your thumb painful in the second thumb joint (the one next your palm) or in the area that touches the neck? Through many years of fiddling, I developed a 'corn' on the inside edge of my left thumb next the top joint, that hurts when I play a lot. A podiatrist tried to fix it, but I suspect there's a cone of hard skin (like a callus) right down almost to the bone that will need more doctoring than he could do.

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## lowtone2

Mine is basal joint arthritis. It's the most common arthritis in the hand. Nothing much can be done. I wear a brace, which helps a little, and ice often after playing. 

https://www.healthnavigator.org.nz/h...umb-arthritis/

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Rdeane

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## Joed

After reading this I played a bit and observed myself. My thumb is all over the place. It jumps around for different chord shapes and runs. It can do that because it doesn't support the neck much. I bet there's a pretty good difference between having the strap attached at the tuners rather than at the scroll. Much of the pressure by my thumb is against the pull of the strap which is enough to fret the notes. There's also the issue of my belly. I'm now thinking of considering it a bit a of an asset as it helps hold the instrument in place.

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