Old Injury - New Problems!

[steve jones]

About three years ago (well before I started piano) I had a fall and damaged my wrist. At the time it didnt hurt, but the next morning I couldnt move it at all. The doc told me if wasnt broken but was badly sprained. This healed quickly, but the flexibility in my wrist never returned.

Now Im beginning to notice differences between my two hands. The RH (the one I fell on) cant stretch nearly as wide as the LH. The fourth finger has immense problems lifting above the third (my LH 4th can lift quite a bit). This is probably the worst thing, as it makes passages where the 4th plays a black note followed by the 3rd on a white, very hard.

For example, if I play Bb with 4, then A with 3, I have to put great effort into lifting the 4th off the black key.

I have no idea whether this is linked to my injury or not, as there could be another explanation - I played guitar since an early age, and this may have developed strength and flexibility in the LH, making the RH seem poor. Not sure.

But eitherway, I could do with finding some way to resolve this problem. Does anyone know of any strength exercise (not particular for piano) that help train the muscles involved in lifting the 4th?

Or any advice on getting around this tricky problem?

Cheers all,

Steve Jones

[celticqt]

Just don't do what Schumann did!   

(Sorry, I couldn't resist.  If I had any helpful advice I would tell you, honestly.) 

[steve jones]

No, I dont think I shall be rigging up any custom torture devices to fix this little quandry 

More likely I'll go to a physio and see if I can't get some pro advice. I'm pretty sure I can stretch this out again, but I need to be sure its not scar tissue first.

Just curious to know if anyone else has had a similar experience. Though I imagine you guys probably take care of yourselves a little more than I did back then (I'll openly admit that Id had several sniffs of the barmaids appron at the time of said incident!).

Steve Jones

[_tyro]

I'd recommend you do see a physical therapist for an evaluation.  There are hand specialists who can probably figure out what you've done to yourself, and if possible fix it. It's probably not a very good idea to try to do any serious stretching without supervision, and no one can give you much advice without actually seeing your hand.   Have never had your particular problem, but did have some competent people get me back a whole arm.  Ask your doctor for a reference -- you need someone good -- or see what you can find out about sports medicine where you live.  Good luck.

[bearzinthehood]

Before you do anything drastic or get worried, please remember that your left hand and right hand are not anatomically identical and never were.  This is true in all human beings.  In fact, I have had some interest in this issue since I discovered that I also had much more difficulty with seperating fingers 3 and 4 on the right hand than on the left hand.  Interestingly, all of the people that I have asked also seem to have the same imbalance.  Whether or not a remedy other than practice exists, I don't know.  However, I am not concerned about this and I don't believe that you necessarily have any cause for concern either.

Incidentally, I also played the guitar.  Perhaps there is a connection?

[jlh]

I would call or email a piano professor in your area and see if there are any doctors locally that either play piano or deal with pianist injuries on a regular basis.  I had tendinitis at one point and all the doctors seemed to have the answers but none really helped until I found someone familiar with injuries of pianists in particular.  Since your wrist wasn't broken, you may be able to (with close supervision and appropriate stretching exercises), in time, return back to "normal".

[bearzinthehood]

There are plenty of ways to cause irreparable damage without breaking bones, and there are people every day who break bones and have no permanent consequences.  If he is concerned enough about this he should visit a doctor, but I believe that given his circumstances there is no cause for concern.

[ted]

I am not an expert but if your wrist was just badly sprained and nothing more, I doubt it would produce such noticeable and peculiar symptoms after three years.  If the problem hasn't always been there, I tend to think it might be something else you are doing, perhaps even the way you are playing. My fourth fingers aren't symmetrical, for what the information is worth. My left fourth finger moves almost as independently as the others but my right fourth finger is much closer to normal.

Can you not compensate by using a bit more wrist in right hand passages ? I assume things like a descending F scale with the fourth on Bb would show it up ? I get that a bit too, but I just roll my wrist over a bit more. The peculiar thing with me is that double note scales, e.g. thirds, are fine - it doesn't happen with them, yet you would think they would be worse.

[steve jones]

Thanks for all the advice guys, much appreciated!

To be honest, Im not sure to what extent this is the injury or not. Its very difficult to judge, as the lack of facility in the RH (compared to the LH) might be due to the years of training on the guitar.

This is not something that concerns me greatly. Its is far from being a 'disability', it just makes somethings more difficult. I often feel that if my RH hand the strength and flexibility of the LH, that Id be able to manage the piano far more easily.

One thing that I have no doubt at all regarding is the fact that since the injury, my ability to lift my hand upwards has been impaired. And this appears to be related to the stiffness of the palm muscles (but that is speculation, I dont know the anatomy of this area well enough to say).

But never the less, I will follow some of your suggestions and maybe seek the opinion of someone in the know.

Cheers!

Steve Jones


PS. Bearzinthehood, I assume you are talking about ligament damage when you mention irretrivable damage. Hopefully this isnt the case, I dont think it is.