playing with wrist support

[greyrune]

I've been having some problems with my wrists lately, i think it's probably just from over practice but i took a week off and i started playing again today.  I also managed to get some money and so have finally bought a pair of wrist supports to wear while i sleep and around the house i was just wondering if it would be a good idea to play with them on, just for now while i get back into things and make sure nothing's still wrong.  I still get a bit of kind of stress but no real pain so i think things are getting better.  Anyway do you think it would help?

[xvimbi]

Wrist supports are designed to provide stability to the wrists and to restrict their motion. If you can do this without supports, then there is no reason to use any. Obviously, one can't control the wrists during sleep, that's why splints are useful. In terms of piano playing, I found that they really hamper playing, but holding the wrist rigid without wearing the splints would still allow me to play. However, one can't play well with a rigid wrist. In the worst case, this will lead to even more injuries in those areas that depend on a supple wrist. If you decide to play with a stiff wrist, make sure you are not introducing new problems and keep the sessions short. Best is probably just to take it easy for a while and do mental practice on the pieces you are working on.

[greyrune]

Thanks, well i'll carry on playing for a bit without the support then and if it starts to hurt again i'll give it another week with anti-inflams and stuff (finally got some of them too), hopefully i'll be back and tinkling properly in no time.

[c18cont]

Well,

I am not trying to get myself in trouble here, but I did do TOO much... TOO soon....and not just Hanon...which I actually did very little of...

I was really just getting used to playing again, and was playing hymnals and Bach Chorales through from cover to cover at peppy tempos...(I have probably 25 or thirty hymnals, some very old, some pretty complex...)...

I haven't been playing more than an hour or two a week, until I got the new piano, and now I was going about three hours a day, and....Both wrists are out and hurting all the time...I guess I will have to leave it a while, but want to try the wrist braces for nite....()

I believe it is my greater age; In school I did have some twinges, in particular before recitals and concerts, but never anything like this, but that was 40 years ago...

I am still reading about injury, and ordered two texts I haven't ever read...

Best Regards,....John

[xvimbi]

John,

I don't have anything else to say than giving it a rest for a while. Ice is good. Splints are good too, if you need to immobilize the wrists, but should be fitted by a healthcare professional. Naturally, if the problems don't go away within two weeks, seeking out a specialist is advisable.

There is a lot of information on the web, but it is difficult to wade through all this and figure out what is sound and what not. I was just looking for some new info and came across the following articles:

https://www.soundfeelings.com/free/pain-prevention.htm
(very basic ideas, but useful nevertheless)

https://www.musicandhealth.co.uk/stress.html
Richard Beauchamp is one of those who have made a lot of info available. There are some very thorough articles.

There is a link to https://www.musicandhealth.co.uk/anatomy.html, which is an excellent collection of articles with some, ehem, drastic pictures and a lot of updated info (compared to when I looked at them the last time). Some of the articles contain a lot of information that one can also find in the Taubman videos (they are expensive, best is to look in a library/music school for them).

I'll post more if I come across more interesting sites.

Good luck!

[asyncopated]

Hi,

I'm no expert at this but wanted to relate some expeirences.  I practice about 2 to 3 hours everyday, more during the weekends.  I don't really know how much  more you are doing than I am, but our bodies are generally different anyway. 

I used to have problems with a stiff wrist and hand positions, as well as a lot of tension in my hands.  So much so, when I started learning 'Kinght on the hobby horse' in kindersanzen (Schumann), my hand would sieze up after one round, and my wrist and hand hurt after practicing.  I was playing pretty quickly.  At this point, I realised that the problem I had boiled down to technique more than anything else.

I just concentrated on playing slowly and releasing all (as much as is possible) the tension in my hands and wrists when I play.  Also, I try hard to keep my hands in as comfortable a position as possible.  This takes a lot of effort.  But the results are amaizing -- supple wrist, pain free playing, a better and cleaner sound, and I don't really get physically tired.  (I get mentally tired after about 6 hours, and don't feel like playing anymore.) 

I also used to teach the guitar to beginners and preached exactly the same thing after seeing some of my students struggle.  It is difficult to know exactly what to do.  I suppose I had to take my own advice, which is surprizingly difficult. 

Here are a few ideas which helped me,

1. Listen to your body.

2. Believe that there is always a comfortable and easy way to do things, and not accepting anything other than that. 

3. Play with your whole body, not your fingers -- when assessing each movement start from the back, arm, forearm, wrists and lastly fingers.

4.  All parts should be free to move and plyable, no part of your body should be ridgid.  Including your wrists. 

5.  Understand the limits of the motion of each joint.  Look for the confortable regimes.

6. For legato playing learn to use a light touch.  For stacatto playing, use your hand and fingers as a sort of (rubber) hammer.

7.  Keep your hands in a natural position. E.g. holding a ball (curved finger) or petting a kid lightly on the head (flat finger). 

I am still struggling with all of these, and believe that it will take years before I will pin everything down, if I ever manage that.  But at least, things are now relatively tensionless and painfree.

All the best,

al.


 

[c18cont]

Many thanks again, for help, xvimbi, and I guess this means we are talking again...

But it may not matter, as I want to go to Piano Street with the same log, and it won't let me..It simply tells me that someone else already has that name...(??) any help? I got in here today through the "bottom  of the page", mentioned by another respondant....

And thanks so much for your interest and help regarding my wrists. I have made a series of discoverys today, the most important may be a lack of sodium..(believe it or not), and potassium, all as a result of too large a dose of medication I have to take...It has been cut in half by my Dr, and I feel better already!

Add to that my far too rapid re-entry into keyboard excesses, and I simply did too much in the time period in question, and the Dr. also said that was likely..I actually have a pretty good technique, tho' for sure not as good as I would like for safety margins....(In spite of Hanon and Czerny.... ) ?

I appreciate the sites you listed as well..I have also been looking, and found some I have set on my favs...I had already found the music and health site, and it seems to be very good..Do you find it so? I have spent time on the Taubman material, as well...Read somewhere that it is encouraged or perhaps used at Julliard as well as other schools today..(?)

asyncopated, my thanks to you as well..! You obviously have a good relation to your technique and style, and are able to relate well to your music career. Your advice remains wise for any, it would seem...Knowing the limitations of the mechanism of the hand and arm relation and the entire body is much more easy now with the web...There are many sites...I like to use the ones recommended by major sources, or friends as they are less likely to be a bit of nonsense...

Many thanks to all...I am quite sure the healing process is what is needed, and I am feeling much better today from care...I will have to be a bit more careful now, as the old joints are indeed battered...enthusiasm still has it's place, but it moves at a slower level in other things...it has to be true for piano as well.. (If I gave a rundown on the things I have done, from Motorcycle racing to rock climbing, you might wonder I can even still play at all....

My regards,   John

[c18cont]

Just a short note of little interest,

My wrists are much better...basically night imobile (in bed)...and cold pacs for a few days...Am doing limited practice again, and this time I will go with much less enthusiasm until I build my strength a bit...maybe half hr to an hr max for a while...

Thanks,  John