Musicians With Injuries

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Comment by Dave Light on August 15, 2010 at 6:56am

At the moment, I'm suffering from a bout of right thumb tendonitis brought on by months of intensive practice on valve trombone (fortunately NOT fiddle). For the moment, I'm icing hourly, taking anti-inflammatories every four hours, and doing something called "deep friction massage" with body oil (sounds kinky, but it hurts like hell!) No playing of any kind for the past three weeks. Plastic surgeon appointment in mid-September to evaluate situation and look at possibility of cortisone injection or whatever.

Comment by Emily Wright on August 5, 2010 at 7:03am

Hey Greg: one of my sax-playing friends has trigger thumb. He had one surgery but it recurred: my instincts are 1. he didn't do proper rehab afterward (the guy is lovely but very impatient AND relies on gigging for income) and 2. he went to the cheapest surgeon he could find. Not exactly a recipe for success with delicate hand surgery. He did indicate that the surgery is repeatable, and that his new MDs advise it, what with all of the advances made in techniques over the past 15 years. Are you suffering from it?

Comment by Greg Cahill on July 9, 2010 at 10:07am

BTW/ anyone ever have a problem with the dreaded tendonitis known as Trigger Finger or Trigger Thumb? Did you go for surgery? If so, what was recovery like?

Comment by Greg Cahill on July 9, 2010 at 10:04am

Be sure to take a look at the All Things Strings community Q&A with cellist and health expert Janet Horvath:

Comment by Marcia Hines on June 11, 2010 at 8:06am

Suffered from "frozen shoulder" in my left arm. I was unable to raise my arm, among other things, and to play was very painful. Had 3 months of physical therapy which really helped. But now, unable to vibrato on the G string and 4th finger weak and have losts of pain in my forearm. I use Therma Care heat wrap and then use a fingerless glove to cover it. Makes playing a whole lot easier.

Comment by Kevin Keating on March 22, 2010 at 5:39pm

Check out violinistinbalance.nl/index.html. Pretty interesting research about lessening the pain of playing by properly adjusting chin and shoulder rests to fit each individual.

Comment by Emily Wright on March 18, 2010 at 8:42pm

PS: I wish someone else would start a discussion. Too much me. :)

Comment by Emily Wright on March 18, 2010 at 8:41pm

Richard: It's funny...I still have to monitor the amount of force I use on the cello. I'm always having to differentiate between tension and strength. These days, I'm absorbed by Popper and the ridiculous exercises (lifting a 1 pound dumbbell!) that are my physical therapy regimen. Hope you enjoy the blog!

Comment by Richard Bohn on February 24, 2010 at 7:28pm

Kevin--my teacher had the "getting the notes" syndrome, to my cost!
Emily-- I have to retract my denial of playing with too much force. I WAS bearing down a lot. I have been playing very lightly lately and I'm beginning to feel the vibrations of the string through the bow. My tone is improving , and so is my hand.
Thanks for your suggestion, I'm headed back to reread your blog.

Comment by Kevin Keating on February 20, 2010 at 10:08am

I think this is a very helpful and necessary discussion group. I played guitar, banjo and mandolin for years and my aches and pains were more wrist and elbow related. Posture wasn't really a big issue. However, since I started playing violin over a year ago, I found that posture is extremely important. I think students new to the instrument often aren't taught this well, like playing the right notes is somehow more important. It is important, but if concentration creates tension then it won't be long before pain sets in. Your body and posture should be just as relaxed when playing as when you're standing with your arms by your side. I go to a chiropractor now from time to time. I do several different (but not time consuming) stretching exercises before playing as well as off and on during the day (being a diesel mechanic doesn't exactly help either). I pay attention not just to the notes, but to the muscles involved in drawing out those notes. I have much less pain now than I had before with only simple routine changes, no drugs and NO SURGERY!!!

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