Preventing overuse injuries in making music

Subject: Preventing overuse injuries in making music
From: marion
Date: 23 Jun 99 - 12:08 PM

Hi folks. I've been playing the fiddle for about five months, self-taught, on average an hour a day. I've started to feel weird in my left wrist - it's not painful exactly, there's just a slight sensation that attracts my attention when I'm doing something sedentary (I don't feel it while playing).

I think I'm going to have to sign up for a few fiddle lessons to make sure that my form isn't heading me for an injury and tragically early fiddle retirement.

I thought this might be a useful thing to make a thread on - can anyone share their experiences of music-related injuries, or offer wisdom as to how to prevent them?

"Remember, if you haven't got your health, you haven't got anything." - the torturer in "Princess Bride"

Marion

Subject: RE: Preventing overuse injuries in making music
From:
Date: 23 Jun 99 - 12:13 PM

MY FINGERS HURT!! annap

I'm just learning guitar Marion.

Subject: RE: Preventing overuse injuries in making music
From: Fadac
Date: 23 Jun 99 - 12:38 PM

You can give yourself tunnel carpel by holding a concertina wrong, After I pracitce on my accordion, I feel some pulling in my right hand... Mostly after doing 15 min of Hannan. My left arm gets it after about 10 min of bellows shakes.

My lips used to get real tired after blowing into a practice chanter for a half an hour. Darn things are hard to blow.

-Fadac

Subject: RE: Preventing overuse injuries in making music
From: Legal Eagle
Date: 23 Jun 99 - 12:47 PM

I think I saw that a guitarist had to have a wedge shaped guitar made 'cos reaching round a dreadnought was giving him tennis Elbow. A friend of ours, Travelling Charles Fyson has a regular bill from the physio 'cos he hunches over his Tak to practice 4 hours a day or more. Apply any other sort of RSI precaution - like ten minute breaks every so often etc.

Subject: RE: Preventing overuse injuries in making music
From: Jeri
Date: 23 Jun 99 - 12:56 PM

The straighter you can keep your wrist, the better. Repetitive motion disorders (carpal tunnel syndrome is one) are caused by...um, repetitive motion. And even if you don't move your wrist a lot, keeping it bent under stress for long periods can cause it. So keep your wrist straight. If you're rotating it so your pinkie-finger side is closer to the fingerboard, and you think that's the problem, try moving the head end out to the side a little more. Those wrist braces do little more than remind you to pay attention to movement. If people rely on them, they can do more harm than good, because they give a false sense of security and in the long run, can lead to other problems.

Subject: RE: Preventing overuse injuries in making music
From: Tiger
Date: 23 Jun 99 - 02:04 PM

When I finally learned to play a B chord (on guitar), I used to suffer from "B-chord finger". I'd have my pointer on the F, and would strain it while reaching up with the other three fingers. Then I couldn't play a B again 'til it healed, when, of course, I'd do it all over again. Not a problem any more, thankfully.

I know some instruction would have helped, as my form probably stinks.

.....Tiger

Subject: RE: Preventing overuse injuries in making music
From: Cap't Bob
Date: 23 Jun 99 - 02:34 PM

The only major problem that I have had occurred when I first started playing the fiddle. It seems that I was using too much pressure with the chin to hold the fiddle. The result was FIDDLERS NECK and I ended up spending three days in the hospital before I could get up and about. I thought I was coming down with meningitis because I had extreme pain whenever I moved my head. It seems to be a rather rare problem & I have only met two other fiddle players who have had FIDDLERS NECK. There are quite a few chin rests on the market that allows the player to elevate the head while playing. My remedy was just to use as little pressure as possible on the chin rest.

I think its a good idea to play a variety of instruments and not stick with any one for an extended period of time. That way you don't get the repetitive movement problem. I have had carpel tunnel in both wrists. One was operated on and while I was waiting for that one to heal the other (left) wrist cured itself. I have no idea why that happened other than just giving that wrist a good long rest. Now days I switch instruments about every fifteen to twenty minutes.

Good luck.............Cap't Bob

Subject: RE: Preventing overuse injuries in making music
From: Allan C.
Date: 23 Jun 99 - 02:58 PM

Tiger's comment reminded me of advice I used to give my guitar students: If you are really having a hard time fingering a chord, try moving your elbow to a different place. Often the elbow would end up directly below the point of greatest finger pressure - but not always. At the time, I didn't really think about what was happening with the wrist. It always seemed to me that the wrist bent the way it had to bend. But I have always advocated the avoidance of using only barre chords in a piece (wherever feasible). Switching between them and open string chords gives your fingers and wrist a much needed moment of comparative relaxation. -- I learned this when playing rhythm guitar in the days of the old "garage bands" of high school.

Subject: RE: Preventing overuse injuries in making music
From: Uilleand
Date: 23 Jun 99 - 03:18 PM

Don't practice when you are tired or continue when you begin to get tired, mentally or physically. Practice without awareness is futile and dangerous, because you will practice mistakes and poor posture when you can't pay 100% attention to what you are doing. It is better to take a break every ten minutes for at least five minutes than to practice longer, especially at the beginning. It may seem excessive to break so often, but your body and brain will thank you in the long run. It is very helpful to take a class in the Feldenkrais method or Alexander technique as they help you to become aware of your body's needs in terms of movement and posture. They also teach the most efficient way of using the body, as opposed to working against it.

Subject: RE: Preventing overuse injuries in making music
From: Jon W.
Date: 23 Jun 99 - 06:46 PM

I'll add this link to a previous thread that deals with this subject.

I got bursitis in my right shoulder several years ago when I was both practicing guitar a lot and also had switched jobs and had a desk that was too high for typing on my computer. It comes back quite often now.

Subject: RE: Preventing overuse injuries in making music
From: Cap't Bob
Date: 23 Jun 99 - 10:01 PM

You might find the following web site interesting:

http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/gmis9734.htm

Cap't Bob