This article about playing guitar again may appear rather odd for a photography website, but I wanted to share this personal experience, and discuss how it may relate to some people’s pursuit of photography.
NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.
As we age it can become more of a challenge to keep ourselves properly tuned-up physically.
For example, some of us may find it too physically taxing to carry around large, heavy camera gear.
Other folks may find that the inflammation in their bodies may be increasing, and lead to joint pain, swelling, and stiffness. This can make it more difficult and painful to walk with, or even without, their camera gear. Inflammation is associated with other health issues that you can research on your own.
Over the past number of years the end knuckles in the middle three fingers of my left hand had become inflamed, swollen and somewhat painful. This was especially true of the end joint in my middle finger which had become swollen and reddish in colour much of the time.
I had ongoing joint pain in those three fingers and lost some of my dexterity in them. So much so that it was somewhat painful to try to play guitar for more than just a few minutes at a time.
The fingering of some chords, even a simple D chord, had become a challenge for me. For the past 12 months or so I rarely picked up one of my guitars.
From a photography standpoint I was lucky that these inflamed knuckle joints were only on my left hand. I still had very good dexterity with all of the fingers on my right hand as there was no inflammation, swelling or pain. So, making adjustments to my camera settings was not affected. Some photographers aren’t as fortunate.
It’s odd how some of us can become so accustomed to chronic pain that sometimes we don’t even notice when it has disappeared. That’s what I discovered this week. I can now play my guitars without any pain at all. And, the fingering on that simple D chord is a complete non issue for me. This begs the question, “What happened?”
What happened was a disciplined, dietary change for my wife and I that started about 7 months ago. We went from a pretty healthy omnivore diet that included some meat and fish/seafood, with lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains (but no dairy as my wife is lactose intolerant) to a WFBP diet (whole food plant based).
This may sound strange, but until this week I hadn’t even noticed that the inflammation, swelling, stiffness and redness in those end knuckle joints on my left hand had disappeared. The reduction in pain probably eased so modestly over time that I hadn’t noticed that change either.
Seven months ago, being able to bend my finger joints as illustrated in the photograph above (captured this morning along with the other hand photographs) was impossible for me to do. The swelling and inflammation in my end finger joints was to the point that I couldn’t bend those knuckles to any significant degree. If I tried to force those knuckle joints to move with my other hand, I experienced pain. I anticipate that the finger joints in my left had will continue to improve further.
You may be wondering what moving to a WFPB (whole food plant based) diet entails. For the past 7 months we have not eaten any meat, fish, seafood, dairy or eggs. We keep our consumption of oils (including extra virgin olive oil) as low as possible. We also avoid processed foods whenever we can. And, this includes processed foods that are promoted as ‘vegan’ or ‘plant based’. Many of these processed foods contain coconut oil and/or palm oil which we avoid because of their high fat content. We avoid eating out in restaurants as we much prefer preparing and controlling our own food.
What we do eat are lots of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes and nuts. The only vitamin supplements we take are vitamin B12 (this is absolutely essential) and vitamin D. My wife is a great cook and she does a really good job finding tasty and healthy recipes for us. Preparing a WFPB meal does take some additional time so we usually do the prep together.
Changing to a WFPB diet is probably something that not everyone would have success doing… or may not even want to try. It takes a lot of discipline and motivation… so I won’t lie and say it’s easy to do.
This article is not intended to suggest to anyone that they should change their diet and do what my wife and I have done for the past 7 months. What each of us choose to eat is an intensely personal decision. Just because we follow a WFPB diet doesn’t mean that other people should do likewise.
My intent was simply to share my experience in being able to once again play my guitars without any pain at all… and the role that a specific dietary change played for me. It is wonderful for me to have the joy of music back in my life… although I suppose the folks who listen to my guitar playing may experience some auditory discomfort. 🙂
As noted earlier, dietary changes are intensely personal ones. Please do not post comments to promote diets like Keto, Atkins, Paleo, Zone, Master Cleanse, Whole30 and others. I will not allow this website to be used to promote diets or supplements that I do not personally use and follow.
Technical Note
Photographs were captured handheld with the camera equipment noted in the EXIF data. All images were created from out-of-camera jpegs or RAW files using my standard process in post. This is the 1,413 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.
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Hi Tom, am curious – did you also revamp your beverages along with the the new diet? What are those that stayed or removed? Thanks.
Hi Eugene,
My beverages did not change. My primary beverage is water. I also drink some black coffee and soy milk daily.
Tom
Hi Tom,
I retired a few years ago and earlier this year I decided I would learn to play guitar. I gave up 15 years ago when I was working and found it too difficult. Been at it now about 11 months, and it’s been a great journey. Not easy starting at an older age but I love it.
The only problem is you can get as much or more GAS in guitars as photographic equipment.
As for diet, it’s great it’s working well for you. I was generally a low carb person most my life as I was afraid when I saw my dad get T2 Diabetes at 40. The Game Changer movie, 5 years ago came out and I bought it hook line and sinker and went WFPB and I felt great, but then fell off. In the process of falling off, I still ate a lot of grains, fruits and ended up with T2 Diabetes. I looked for the quickest way to reverse it without meds and went back to low carb and reversed my diabetes without meds in less than 3 months. Just shows how powerful diet is as your joint pain disappearing is an example.
I think I did the WFPB diet the wrong way for my body type. A low carb version of it would have worked for me but that wasn’t clear to me at the time. Just sharing my experience.
Hi Jae,
I suppose we can get GAS with any hobby or pursuit. I started off with an acoustic guitar, then added an acoustic electric, and finally a semi-hollow body electric. That was all within the first 10 years of so of started playing (or in my case playing at it). I still have all three of them and have been getting back into playing over the past month or so. In a couple of years my original acoustic guitar will be 50 years old.
Diet is indeed powerful. Each of us needs to find what works best for us.
Tom
Hi Thomas,
Very interesting article! I wasn’t aware that a diet could have such an impact on joint inflammation. I’ll keep that in mind.
But above all, I’m very happy to hear that there’s no more pain in your left hand. I would be very sad if you were to stop regularly publishing articles on photo techniques and creativity.
Sincerely,
Sylvie
Hi Sylvie,
Thanks for your supportive comment… much appreciated! We plan on continuing with this blog for the foreseeable future.
Tom
Hi Tom. My professional opinion – which you can feel free to take with a grain of purine – is that you were suffering from gouty arthritis (a chronic condition. different from an acute attack of gout, but similarly caused by uric acid crystallization in joints and resultant inflammation therefrom). It would be interesting to know what your uric acid levels earier this year,, when you were sympatomatic, compared to currently. You’re doing the right thing (removing high purine-containing foods from your diet, particularly red meat), but I think you’re going overboard. It is questionable that eggs are a factor and well-documented that dairy products decrease, rather than increase serum purine levels. Your wife can almost certainly benefit from lactase taken along with dairy products. This enzyme breaks down lactose in foods so that it cannot trigger the irritating diarrhea/cramping symptoms. I find that capsules such as Webber Naturals DairyAgain! is quite effective in this regard. I agree entirely with the B12 & Vit. D regimen. The former prevents subclinical B12 deficiency – which can lead to neurologic deterioration – as we age; Vit D is necessary, particularly in non-summer months in these latitudes, but definitely should be accompanied by calcium if you are limited dairy product ingestion. With regard to all of the above, I speak from personal experience as well as from medical wisdom.
However, the proof is in the pudding. I suggest you check current uric acid level, slowly introduce first eggs and recheck uric acid level and symptoms after a month, then similarly introduce dairy products (starting with a yoghurt containing no sugar, carrageenan or other thickeners) and again compare levels and symptoms. Oh yes, and be careful about generalizations. If indeed you have been suffering from gouty arthritis, the diet you’re on is not a panacea. A number of vegetables and fruits are high in purines and should be avoided, whereas certain fish are low in purines and are quite safe. You can easily discover which are proscribed by doing a simple Google search. One thing we can be certain of, beer is a no-no. Take good care and be healthy.
Hi Stan,
Thanks for your professional opinion. Our change in diet had absolutely nothing to do with the inflammation of some of the knuckles on my left hand. That improvement was an unexpected benefit. As suggested, I did more reading on dietary issues that can lead to gout and gouty arthritis… and there doesn’t seem to be much of a fit. Our decision to take the WFPB route was based on a wide range of factors which included overall health enhancement, reducing our carbon footprint as well as reducing animal cruelty. So… there’s no way that will return to consuming any animal products.
Tom