Maintaining muscle memory during neuropathy

Airmiles

So... I'm hoping for some advice or experience on keeping ticking over here.

Out of nowhere I've been struck with partial paralysis in my fretting hand - now diagnosed as a neuropathy of the nerves that feed the forearm muscles that bend your fingers. (Anterior interosseous and ulnar nerves for the medically inclined). I've lost maybe 90%of the strength and 20% of the coordination.

Prognosis is uncertain at the moment, at best it'll take months, but in the meantime I can't play barre chords or do bends or rolls at all and everything else is just... slow.

The question is, I'm assuming I should keep at least some conventional playing going, even if slow, to keep muscle memory topped up?

Obviously I can still practice arpeggios, fretboard knowledge, rhythm etc so all is not lost in terms of progress.

In the meantime, I've always wanted to give slide a proper go as opposed to dabbling, so now's my chance. I do love an open tuning.... and I've got a copy of Paris, Texas which is what turned me onto slide in the first place .

Thanks for reading.
Miles 

darthed1981

Can't give much practical advice mate but will wish you the very best for a speedy and full recovery

sev112

Wow to hear, hope it improves

use the time to develop your musicality with simple chords and fingering.  Tony Iommi lots the tips of his fingers and developed a unique and highly copied style,  you might turn out to be better

Revolutions

Sorry to hear that- hope you make a full recovery & soon! Great you can play a little.

Not sure if something like this might be a good idea to improve strength/dexterity in each finger?

Airmiles

I have exactly that thanks Revolution - I'm sure it'll be an important part of the rehab. trouble is I need the nerves to talk to the muscles first

Airmiles

sev112 said:

Wow to hear, hope it improves

use the time to develop your musicality with simple chords and fingering.  Tony Iommi lots the tips of his fingers and developed a unique and highly copied style,  you might turn out to be better

Thanks Sev, agreed more work on harmony, intervals and transcribing would do me good in the long run.

That reminds me of the old joke:
"Doctor, will I be able to play piano when the plaster comes off?" 
"Yes of course"
"Oh that's good - I couldn't before"
(Insert jazz chord of choice)

BillDL

What have the medical professionals told you to try doing in an effort to regain full use of your hand and fingers and what have they told you to avoid doing?

CarpeDiem

I would suggest finding a physiotherapist who has a good knowledge of the condition. I agree with @BillDL by asking the medical professionals what you should and shouldn’t be doing.

Airmiles

At the moment I'm awaiting a nerve conduction (EMG) test to check how much damage and where,  and whether it's already started to heal. I mentioned both weights and guitar to the consultant and he didn't say anything either way. Although I didn't actually ask either - I was too focused on the diagnosis....

From what I can gather, it's a case of waiting for the nerves to regrow, so as long as I don't do anything to slow that down....

snowblind

A number of these neurodegenerative conditions tend to be caused by loss of the myelin sheath around the nerve. Kinda like stripping the insulation off your internal wiring. Causes are many and varied, often with a viral trigger. Anything you can put into your diet that might assist in the production of myelin is worth considering. Things things like oily fish, nuts, seeds, avocado and suchlike. I understand there have been some recent discoveries relating to oligodendrocytes (the things that make myelin) and particular proteins which offer potential for boosting nerve repair. The future is bright, as they say.

Shelders

Out of curiosity - how long did these symptoms take to get this bad? 

In terms of your question,  I'd be inclined to agree with what you've already put. Do whatever you can to maintain, or the loss, of strength etc as your recovering. Nerves heal insanely slow but they do heal (peripheral ones anyway).

Airmiles

Hi,

Thanks for taking the time to reply.
This literally happened overnight..


Update: I have now had nerve conduction tests and an MRI, and the cause is bone spurs in my neck vertebrae.
I'm seeing the spinal specialist on Tuesday, and slightly ###ing myself as some of the potential options sound dramatic - fusing vertebrae etc. so just hoping it's more of a light Dremel-ing...

barnstorm

Hopefully 100% sortable, then.

If the problem does end up lingering for whatever reason, have a play with any alternate tunings – including unusual ones – that you think might help to maximise what your hand can do. 

I hurt my left hand/thumb/index finger about a year ago and although everything is more or less back to normal, I still often use the reentrant tuning that helped me to avoid some uncomfortable shapes.

Appreciate that that's a suggestion for learning something new rather than for maintaining muscle memory, but obviously muscle memory is only useful if the muscles work as before!

Airmiles

Thanks - I'm using it as an opportunity to take slide seriously for once, and to work on transcribing - so it's possibly good for me in the long run.

Things have improved a little so I can work on arpeggios, but still not barre chords