Accesories for wrist pain

[americanbozo]

I've been playing bass trombone for around 1 and a half years and recently I've started to have this tingling pain that shoots from my thumb and wrist all the way to my forearm, specially with heavy use of the F attachment or long practice sessions. Which trombone grips or accessories might help me with this pain?

[tbonesullivan]

I would definitely look in the mirror and examine your posture, to make sure that your wrist is straight and that you are holding the trombone in the most stress free way possible.

I know many people who are happy with the neotech trombone grip. You also may want to look at a wrist brace and possibly talk to hand specialist, as that sounds like what could be nerve pain.

[GabrielRice]

The simple strap from Yamaha or Leather Specialties is a good place to start. I'm not sure the Leather Specialties one is available right now, but if it is, I like it better and use it myself.

The NeoTech grip is a little but cumbersome in my opinion, but it works.

The Get-a-Grip from Sheridan Brass is also excellent. It doesn't quite work for me, but several of my students use it and it's great.

[harrisonreed]

Re: leather specialties, I ordered a neck guard from them in August, through Hickeys, and it only just arrived the first week of April. They still exist but are taking quite a while.

Quality of the product I got is very high, though.

[Kbiggs]

Some people like the Bullet Brace and other similar devices. I use the Get-a-Grip for tenor.

I like the ErgoBone, available at ergobrass.com, especially for my bass. If you need physical therapy or other interventions, you can continue to play while using the ErgoBone.

[BrianJohnston]

Rath brace has worked well for me.

[hyperbolica]

Of all of the above, only the Ergobone actually takes pressure off your wrist. The rest of them move the pressure to a different part of the hand. I've used all of these plus a few. Ergobone takes some getting used to, but once you accept it as a way to hold your instrument and move around without the pressure on your wrist, it works.

You may have a different issue. None of these prevent thumb tension when using valves. But if your thumb issue is really in combination with the wrist tension, then Ergobone is the way to go. It's the only one that removes the weight of the horn from your arm. Depending on how you use it, it might transfer that weight to your torso, to the chair or to the floor. I bought mine with the floor peg extension, so the weight goes to the floor. The chair thing doesn't always work (depends on type of chair you use) and the torso harness I found introduces a front-to-back force I didn't like. The floor peg allows you to stand up or sit down (have to adjust the peg) and move around within reason, it's a little awkward. But it does work.