Great news Hugo! Thanks so much for taking the time to feedback. Cheers N&J🎸

Hi Antonio thanks for sharing your experience. My problems have always been with my elbows and forearms, so have no experience of pain higher up. Moving to acoustic from electric certainly stresses a whole pile of upper body muscles, I think in addition to all the exercises maybe the best advice would be to take frequent breaks from playing and try using the powerball in a varierty of positions. Let me know how you get on after a few weeks. Good luck N&J🎸

Thanks for the feedback Maria, I hope the exercises work for you. Nice to know we have viewers in Hungary. Good luck N&J🎸

Glad you liked it really - hope it helps. Cheers N&J🎸

It’s not Nick and Jane’s fault KZfaq changed your feed. Don’t give them a thumbs down because of KZfaq’s tracking stuff. If you liked the video, like the video. It makes a difference for the content creators. Don’t punish them for KZfaq’s policies.

@@KeithShelley1 Thanks Keith, appreciate your input. Cheers N&J🎸

Great - thanks for the feedback Emmett. Warm up and warm down is the secret to keeping it at bay. Keep on pluckin' N&J🎸

Hi Grey, yes I think icing/heating is for muscle pain and doesn't work on tendons. Cheers N&J🎸

Hi Michael, it won't take a year to recover - I've have had a couple of really bad bouts, but as a gigging musician I've continued to play. Be religious about the exercises, do them whenever you have down time, watching TV, stopped at the lights etc. If you want to accelerate recovery I have found acupuncture to work - I went to a physio expecting massage/exercise but she asked if I minded if she stick some pins in me & wow the difference was amazing, I still needed to do the exercises to complete the recovery but it definitely made a step change. You might want to consider your style too, if you are a returner to the guitar you maybe a little tense when playing (try to relax) or maybe gripping tighter than you really need to (try loosening your grip a little). It could even be your best excuse for a new guitar or try a lighter gauge of strings. Please leave me more feedback in a couple of months I'd like to know how you get on. Good luck Nick 🎸

@@NickandJane Nick, thanks for the advice you’ve given me a great deal of hope. Maybe I should play my Les Paul Standard more it has large frets and I notice I play that guitar with a much lighter touch. Have subscribed to your channel, thanks again!

How is your pain now?

@@antonio-nieto not great but it is slowly getting better, I’ve not really played guitar for 18 months as a result of this injury. I did try about 2-3 months ago and it made my pain much worse for weeks. It’s heartbreaking not being to play guitar but I’m hoping I will recover within the next 6 months, I am getting there. I’ll have forgotten how to play most of the songs I’ve learned over the years. Are you suffering yourself, how long have you had it?

Great news! Thanks so much for feeding back. Maintain warm-up and warm-down should keep it at bay. Cheers N&J🎸

Well done Steve, keep on pluck'in N&J : )

Hi SJ, thanks for the feedback, I guess a lot of folks will be practicing more at the moment as we all struggle with the COVID-19. Let me know in a couple of weeks how you get on with the power ball. Keep safe N&J.

Good point Andy, well put. I'm a lucky boy. Cheers Nick🎸

Thanks, take it easy. N&J.

Small world. I think it was arpegios that did me in too. Sad thing is that I was getting a hell of a lot better at playing Kirk Hammets Ride the Lightning arpegios. It was probably that unrelenting index-thumb pinch.

Thanks for the feedback, glad this helped 😊. Time doesn't ruin everything, it gives you the opportunity to save up for a PRS 😉 Cheers, keep on pluckin' N&J🎸

Hi Joe, thanks for the feedback. You have to be persistent with your exercising to get on top of tendonitis, and keep up the stretching too, once you have recovered, to keep it at bay. All the best N&J🎸

You're welcome Jeremy, let me know how you get on. N&J : )

Cheers Capn, hope they help. Nick 🎸

Hi Ryan, thanks so much for the feedback. Sorry to hear about your problems, I hope you will soon be on the mend. Let us know how you get on in the coming weeks - it would be good to get some feedback from someone outside of our usual musical circle of friends. Good luck N&J : )

I'm going through the same: / it is very difficult to stay away from the guitar, but I hope that soon I will be better. Get better for you too!

@@larissasilva4375 I'm sorry to hear this. I myself was on medication which helped to get rid of the pain. I am still following the exercises from the video. But if and when I start playing guitar I feel discomfort and slight pain which makes me put down the guitar. The thought is very depressing as playing guitar is a form of meditation and always keeps me happy. I am now left to accept that only time and a lot of patience is key to get thru this. I hope you get better too and very soon we all could jam together.

@@XESexperience yes, you said it all. Patience is the main key now, so that soon we will be better. I hope you get better too. The guitar is also part of my joy, and without it I have also been very sad. I started physiotherapy and I've been feeling better, mad I still can't play. Soon everything will be back to normal for us🙏🙏

@@larissasilva4375 If you're both still struggling, I highly recommend collagen type I (taken in 15g doses, totalling 60-90g a day) alongside deep tissue massage and light daily stretching (1 minute for hands should be enough, but after some weeks you can work up to 5 mins- but even now I don't find the longer amount so necessary). Time the doses with massage (as often as you like), and stretching lightly once a day & 1 hour after a dose for best results. I mix it with half a gram of ginger to make it taste better. I had bad tendinitis for 2 years but I'm all good now! Now just on 1 lot of 15g a day for maintenance. Good luck guys :)

You're welcome 😊. Cheers N&J

Thanks Tony - hope it helps. Keep safe N&J🎸

Hope it helps, let me know. Cheerss N&J🎸

Hope it helps - let us know. N & J

Good plan Prateek - keep it up N&J ; )

Yeah I've been playing for about a month or so and I'm pretty sure I've given myself carpal tunnel in my left hand after what feels like not even a month... (I am right handed and my fretting hand is my left, which is weak in comparison so I ended up either holding down the strings too hard to get clearer sounding notes or I had bad hand posture because my thumb is too weak, or both of them at once). And, as a bonus my elbow decided to be in pain as I was playing right now, and guess which hand it was on! My left of course! So that's fun.... and while I hope it's not tennis elbow yet (I stopped playing as soon as it started to hurt) I have dragged myself here to see if I can completely prevent myself from getting it and I *STILL* don't know what I'm doing wrong to keep hurting myself like this....

@@diamond_ocelot6 few things: 1) try the stuff in this vid it really helped me 2) squeezing a tennis ball strangely works 3) check your thumb position behind the neck, you dont want to be exerting too much pressure on it 4) meet with a medical professional i got several exercises which i do, and try a copper compression sleeve!

Hi Paulo, hope it helps - let me know. Cheers N&J🎸

Always good to stop at the onset of pain - the stretches should help you play for longer and build up resiliance. Cheers Nick 🎸

@@NickandJane so I can still play I just have to do stretches and split my practice sessions into 15 min intervals possibly ? The first time I got pain was about 2 weeks ago and I didn’t pick up my guitar for a week.

@@imoldgregg4795 as a gigging musician the option to stop playing is not there, so maximising the exersizing and minimizing the playing has been the solution for me. The streches in particular can be done in any down time; watching TV, waiting for the traffic lights to change etc. Good luck 🎸

Hi George, I would recommend taking breaks and warming up and down to help ensure this doesn't develop into tendonitis. Also the the squashy ball with the finger extender is good for balancing the muscles in you grip hand. N&J ; )

@@NickandJane The squashy ball sounds like a good idea, I'll take your advice and try that out, Thanks.

Cheers Jeremy, glad to hear that!

It certainly does Ron - keep on pluckin'. Cheers N&J : )

Hi Ernest, apparently you need/use calcium when your muscles do the gripping types moves - so I'm guessing you need to do more of the stretching type moves, like the ball with finger elastics i.e. opening your hand out, this would help counter balance the bias you have created with your current regieme. Magnesium is used in this relaxing (rather than gripping) move so I don't think it would make your calcium build up worse - but hey I'm a guitarist not a doctor 😊 Best of luck N&J🎸

Hi Natalie - I do the stretching excersizes that I cover in the video, and if it is a long session then I will take a power ball to use as well. I'll do these before and after playing.

Hi Johnny, good question - I would say yes the guitar playing may well be contributing to your tendonitis; the most painful thing I could do was pick up a drink, it wasn't playing the guitar. I weight train too, so I reduced the weight and rep's & added much more stretching before and after training. The power ball is a game changer. It does take time, so be vigilant with the stretches and cut down on the repetitive actions that are causing the problem. Good luck N&J🎸

Hi Gucker, tennis elbow, cricketers elbow, painters elbow and guitarists elbow are all the same thing - tendonitis. The source of your tendonitis is most likely both the tennis and guitar playing. The good news is the treatment described here is the same whatever the cause. I would recommend warm up and warm down before both your guitar playinga and your tennis playing - the stretches will really help both as a cure and prevention, just like runners stretch to prevent injury,. Hope this helps. Cheers N&J🎸

It could be Eddie, it's certainly worth trying new settings for your strap. My 1st instance was certainly caused by suddenly playing a dreadnaught shaped acoustic (with it's larger body and extra depth) for a couple of weeks - that got my right arm. If you're lucky enough to have an alternative guitar to play, try that for a while and see how you go. Good luck N&J🎸

Hi Ali, recovery is really dependent upon how bad it gets before you start to treat the problem. Typically I would say a few weeks/months for total recovery - it's not quick I'm afraid. To speed up recovery I, and certainly one other guitarist I know, had acupuncture which we found give an instant positive step change. I continued to play and practice throughout, though tried to limit the duration of any session and paid particular attention to warming up and down before and after playing. I continue the exercises daily to this day to help ward off future re-occurrence. I hope this helps. Please feedback in a couple of months Ali and let us know how you got on. Best of luck N&J.

Hi Ali - 3 months since your Guitarist elbow - how are you getting on, did the exercizes help? N&J

Hi Philippe - good question. I think the cause is more related to repetative strain i.e. doing the same kind of action multiple times; so string gauge or neck thickness is unlikely to be a key factor, though they may have some effect. I think you may have a bigger effect by changing the length of your guitar strap so that your elbow is at a different angle. Certainly for me if I start to develop a problem with my right (strumming) arm, changing from deep bodied acoustic to thin bodied electric helps me keep it at bay whilst also doing all the exercises shown in the video. Try to spread your practicing out and incorporate more breaks, also try to make a habit of stretching between numbers rather than noodling. Best of luck N&J ; )

Hi Peter, I'm no doctor, so I'm not sure that pain on the inside of your hand would be tendonitis. The sports physio's that I have used cannot speak highly enough about powerballs, they generally regard them as fantastic devices to build strength and exercise tendons. I have a couple of different powerballs, I just use the regular cheap models which cost ~ £17 here in the UK from Amazon. Hope this helps N&J

Try type I collagen (60-90g a day, split in 15g doses throughout the day), along with deep tissue massage and light daily stretching. That's what solved my long term tendon issue, which I had for about 2 years which I also had in my wrist (pick-hand).

Hi John, the exercises cover tendon related pain which personally I've only experienced in my elbow and forearm; with respect to arthritis I'm not qualified to answer that you should seek medical advice. My GP advised me that I had tendonitis and all the advice I cover in the video was gained from visits to sports physio's.

@@NickandJane Many thanks for your reply! I definitely have tendonitis but also wrist problems in my left (fretting) hand. The best thing is to avoid playing certain things with difficult stretches, or to cheat a bit! Best wishes to you.

Hi 55 maltesers. Sure a proper warm down is good practice and should help minimise injury. N&J

Hi Tammie, firstly I can't comment regarding your shoulder as I have no experience of this - I'm a guitarist not a medical professional. With regard to powerballs, they are all gyroscopic strengthening devices and all do the same job. The expensive ones just have additional features that will NOT help your condition such as speed indication, glowing light or auto start, so just get a cheap one from a good make. Here in the UK I would expect to pay around £15. I hope this helps. Good luck Nick🎸

Hi Macleod, in my case playing the guitar was pretty normal, the pain and difficulty was more with other movements such as raising a mug or twisting a screwdriver, though stiffness would move in the longer I played. Cheers N&J 🎸

Hi Franck, I'm not a nutritionist, so I'm not qualified to make such comments. I only share my own experience in the hope that it will help others. Cheers Nick 🎸