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Healing:
So my high-priced insurance is finally paying off. I've got Physical Therapy underway, I had an MRI on Wednesday & this week I'm getting my EMG. All of these will most likely tell me that I've overworked my forearm muscles.
The way I understand it is that because I switch between finger-style and pick-style playing throughout the year, I send my forearm through a roller-coaster of overuse and underuse. When I'm playing finger-style, I end up using mostly my fingers to articulate the notes and keep my forearm relatively stable. When I play pick-style, I really use my forearm muscles to wag my wrist back n' forth. Because my forearm isn't always in shape, when I start using if for strumming I end up overusing it. As a result, the muscles swell and irritate my ulnar nerve, which causes my numbness.
My prescription for Physical Therapy will work to calm down my forearm muscles and then, when they are ready, work them back up and give them a plan to continually be strong so I don't yo-yo back & forth like I used to.
That's the plan, as far as I know. I'm deeply grateful that the people I'm working with have the education that they do. It's a great feeling when someone knows how bad you feel and why you feel that way, and can give you some help so you don't have to feel that way anymore.
On the practicing front, I've been keeping it kind of low-key. I've been trying to keep busy with other activities. I"m not sure if I will continue to take a break or gradually work back in playing some music. I've got a vacation coming up too. I'm not sure what will happen then either.