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I have both arthritis and RSI. The fingers on my right hand swelled up like sausages and my middle finger knuckle is now 20% bigger. I have lost partial use of my third finger. I have developed some exercises to help regain control, which I think have helped a little. Playing more finger style helps develop the tendons I guess. Thankfully, my left hand is not as bad, with just occasional twinges of pain. I don't know if RSI and arthritis are connected in anyway but the former has been with me for a long time, which I attribute to excessive practicing. I have seen a specialist and there are drugs, but they have side-effects. Recently, I fasted in an effort to lose weight, and by the third day found pain and stiffness had subsided noticeably. When I broke the fast the symptoms gradually returned. I googled 'fasting' and 'arthritis' to see if there was any conclusive causal relationship, but found only one website that claimed there is. My diet is mostly vegetable, fruit, and whole grain, so I don't think that is the problem. I do drink alcohol and coffee, which probably aggravates any condition. I know there must be fellow musician sufferers and maybe some have found relief in other ways. It is the one of the worst afflictions for a musician.
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I feel for you! I had a little tendinitis back in college and I found that stretching my fingers and hands helped. For some reason, I believe that the aching came from the fact that, as guitar players, we're only using our muscles in "one way" --pressing. So stretching or using our muscles in fingers the other would counteract all the pressing we do. I do not know if there's any scientific or medical backing to support this but this and a little heat helped.
All the best,
Dom
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Sometime ago I read that arthritis is caused by a build up uric acid.
Then I read that Black Cherry's rid the body of uric acid.
The really cool thing is that the active ingredient is in the colouring of black cherries
so, whilst fresh fruit is always better, jams, conserves or anything with black cherries
in it is of benefit.
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uric acid? sounds like gout or a gouty arthritis.
we should ask one of the docs here, there are several. pretty cool. 
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Victor,
Most people who are knowledgeable about exercise physiology understand that exercise should be balanced. For instance, pushing exercise like push ups should be countered with pull ups. Since guitar playing is all finger flexion, exercising the extensor muscles will create a better balance between the muscle groups.
There is a device called a Cats Paw that exercises the hand extensors that I've used in the past with great success.
More information on the Cats Paw here:
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Relief - Cats Paw Ergonomic Hand Exerciser
As for the black cherries, it's actually Tart Cherries (the red ones) or Tart Cherry juice that supposedly helps with arthritis. As for jams, jellies and such, they are loaded with sugar and there is much evidence in recent research that sugar can cause inflammation. I would avoid them.
Regards,
Jerome
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Yes, I think especially the Montmorency variety of tart red cherries. The cherry pie cherry.
A little tart red cherry juice an hour before bed is also supposed to help promote sleep.
Sorry to hear of your struggles, vsaumarez. I think the physical therapy/stretching others have suggested is a good idea.
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A quick search of the net produced this link.
I'm not a Doc so can only rely on what I read on the net.
And I believe everything I read on the net 
Black Cherry Juice - What You Need to Know
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Great, useful replies everyone, thanks. Extending is part of my finger exercise routine but I've not tried cherry juice. Funnily enough, I was first diagnosed with gout, but later diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis. I was just very curious that fasting ie not eating anything for 2-3 days gave me more relief that anything I have tried. Apparently, fasting breaks down the build up of calcium deposits, which I assume must be related to arthritis problems. I probably need to cut out certain things like coffee, alcohol, and sweet things completely, or until my joints recover. The RSI has been with me for years, and is probably unrelated.
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If you are looking for a non-invasive way to treat, look into the King Brand blood flow wraps. With RSI, it creates inflammation in turn restricting the blood flow to the hand. Use Cold to get the inflammation down to enable the blood to flow through and then use the blood flow stimulator wraps. Use the stimulator wraps before playing to help warm up the area and cold after to help prevent against the inflammation from building up. Worth a look into, just a suggestion. Better than using drugs.
King Brand Wrist Injury Treatment
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I am currently just about over my 3rd bout with RSI in both arms. I have not played guitar in a little over a year. It totally sucks, but my approach has been to think long term. I'd rather heal and be able to play without pain than develop a chronic condition. The other two times I stopped playing, it totally went away after 6 months to a year and didn't return for 9 years the first time and 5 years the 2nd time. I believe my problems have been much more related to computer use than guitar, but guitar adds fuel to the fire. These days computers are unavoidable. I'm sure most of us are at high risk for RSI at some point in our lives due to the combination of computer use and guitar playing. The things that have worked for me are stretching, exercise, temporarily stopping or reducing repetitive activities, meditation, and Feldenkrais/Alexander lessons (I've done both). I am currently wrapping up 30 Alexander technique lessons. What got me into trouble this last time is that I stopped doing the things that keep it away because I thought it was gone for good. I will not make that mistake again. Good luck.
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If you have psoriatic arthritis you need a rheumatologist and should be getting treatment to at least limit the joint damage you may experience.
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I have a squeezed organic Lemon in hot water every morning. This is good for dealing with Uric acid because of the way the body metabolizes the lemon even though the lemon is acidic, and it's good for cleaning your liver too apparently.
When I practise guitar I ALWAYS use a timer set to 10 mins practise, 2 mins rest, 10, 2, 10, 2 etc. The only times when I have minor pains in the hand are when I don't adhere to that. I use a HIIT timer for this (High Intensity Interval Training) as it is set to intervals.
I have the Surrey Physiothepy Clinic "Prevention of Injuries for Musicians" booklet in front of me right now and at the back it says "After 20 mins practise take a 5 min break" and "when practising try to take micro breaks of 15 secs every 5 mins".
If the heart wasn't the first thing to not be able to keep up then Usain Bolt wouldn't run back and forth at full pelt 100m for an hour non-stop for practise. With guitar practise not being exercise, your limit / damage point becomes something else physical and not as immediately obvious.
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Find anything that has helped?
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I'm not sure about arthritis, but for RSI, I believe eccentric strengthening exercises can be very helpful, such as:
https://www.orthocenterillinois.com/...nnis-Elbow.pdf
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Not that my condition was ever as bad as your, but I have had wondeful results by eating only the foods on the palieo diet. I found out that any grains (other than rice) are the absolute worst thing for me to eat.
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There is a homeopathic remedy called RHUS TOX. It's made by Hylands and can be found at stores like Whole Foods or on Amazon. I'm sixty and had been a rock climber for years and my joints had been getting to the point where I could hardly do chords. I started to use this along with a Chinese ointment called Po Sum On and have been able to play again. If those don't work I would recommend a good Kinesiologist.
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