Can you flatten your hand out on a table, without pain? If not, it might be onset Dupuytren’s contracture. Our lead guitar player has been fighting a loosing battle with this for several years, and had recently gone to dobro, to keep playing.

Lorenzo, this may not be a banjo related issue at all, sounds like you might need a medical examination. Hands do change with age, & might require some adjustment in the choice of your instruments, & the scale length.

I have no problem spreading my hand.

I don't have big hands, and a 25.5 scale is definitely easier than 26.5, especially for things like a 3-1 pulloff.

First of all, go to the doctor and find out what the problem is!

Second, rest the elbow, stay away from the banjo for a few days and see if that helps. You might try arthritis cream on your elbow and see if that alleviates the pain any.

I have always been a sitting player
Just this week-I actually just realized that I get better fretting pressure on complex holds---when leaning the banjo a bit and reaching upwards a bit--instead of straight across--(maybe an old man thing) When I would shoot a vid I would sit straight and start missing things that were there ,minutes earlier--anyway that is a thought--good luck on your fix anyway

I once has a sushi cutter come to see me. His hands hurt so bad he could no longer work, he needed two hands to open a door. I had him give up sugar. Three days later his hands were working again. Sugar creates lactic acid in the body and it is drawn to the muscles that are being used most. What is your sugar intake as another possibility? banjered

At this point, I'm putting my money on one of those "mystery ailments" ..... no apparent cause ... might / might not fix itself ... partially or completely ... with or without medical or physio intervention.   

[If you're lucky it'll be a one-off rather than one in a never-ending series.]

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Tongue-in-cheek, it brings to mind the ol' joke:  

Patient: "It hurts when I ________________ ."

Doc: "Well then stop _________________ ."

Get a hand specialist , they are certified from the shoulder on down
I had my right elbow repaired due to age

And rest between your enthusiasms

Mr. Magnificent, any "news"?  [i.e. that's fit for public consumption.]

News. Weill, I can't say that it's from playing the banjo, as I have a variety of other activities which could have caused it. But isometric things tend to exacerbate it.

In latin:
Iso = same
Metric = distance

So an isometric exercise is one in which you may hold a weight in your hand but not move it, so that the muscles neither flex nor extend. Grab a jug of milk, hold it out to your side, and just keep it there. That's isometric.  Your muscles neither flex nor extend.  There's tension, but no movement.

From what I understand it's almost always an issue with a tendon (hence, "tendonitis"), but there are a LOT of tendons in your elbow, hence the multiple names for the same condition - tennis elbow, golf elbow, etc.  Also the multiple possible treatments based on possible cause, severity, etc.

The basic cure is rest, with ice, a bit of compression, some exercises, and maybe an antiinflamatory like ibuprofen thrown in.

Yeah, well, I'm rebuilding part of the 300+ square foot shed and repainting the whole thing, so rest ain't gonna happen.  Just holding a gallon of paint isn't good.  Even a cup of coffee will make me notice it, although it's not severe pain or anything like that.

However, I try to ice it with some Colpacs of various size which I have. I use a thin kitchen towel to keep from freezing my arm, and tie it tight with a long velcro strap. I also bought a Theraband Flexbar and have started to do the Tyler Twist exercise. I picked the green bar since its resistance is usually about right for most adult males.

Have you tried magic colloidal silver water? Websites that sell it claim it is used by hospitals for stuff.

Rose quartz, amethyst crystals and magnets coated in copper draw out the toxins.

Red light therapy is said to cure things.

I've read that giving up gluten does something, or was that eating protein (hard to keep up).

You can go to places that will stab tiny needles into you.

quote:

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Originally posted by reubenstump

Like tennis elbow, in my left/fretting hand.

It could be due to other activities, but I'm right handed so skeptical. Keeping track lately, I seem to do a dair number of strength things with my left hand and dexterity tasks with my right. Picking up a cup of coffee hurts.

Has anyone else experienced this?

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Get you an arm band (velcro) and wear it just below the elbow when your doing work. I've had it off and on sence I was 39, I'm 78 now, both arms, top and bottom, had surgery on left bottom, hurt just as bad for over a year. You just have to learn how you can pink up something without it puling on it. The band will help. It's a tair in the tendon where it hooks on the elbow. What I had was Tennis Elbow.