I had another very brief period of very little pain yesterday afternoon - probably because I fudged a little on the timing of my pain meds. I set myself on the sofa with my left elbow propped upon my knee. I managed to play along with Carmen for nearly an hour, mostly doing songs that I could successfully capo up the neck a bit. When the pain dictated, I quit.

I'll grant that we pretty well rushed through about a dozen songs and the quality and spirit was a bit lacking. This was likely due to the pressure of wanting to cram as much music as possible into what might have been a much shorter period of time. The "rust" from the long, dry spell was also a contributing factor, I'm sure. Of course, I paid a price in pain and sleeplessness last night and am still paying this morning; but it was worth it!

I won't be repeating this experiment until a few days have passed, but it is comforting to know I'm not completely broken - yet.

Like Open Mike mentioned above, my doc is currently recommending against seeing chiropractor at present. I've seen the MRI and understand enough about what it shows to agree. However, I'm not ruling it out until I understand more about what my condition really is. I intend to pursue the use of acupuncture before long. I do not believe acupuncture will cure anything; but it may help me to reduce the use of pain killers.

I possess an array of other musical instruments to try, some of which may involve less overall arm movement or extension. I have a lovely (real walnut sound hole) mountain dulcimer that Carmen gave me, my father's beautiful Honer chromatic harmonica, and a collection of pennywhistles, wooden flutes, Pan pipes, etc.. I guess my fiddle would not be a good choice, but it looks like now would be a good time to make good use of the rest.