shoulder injury

[elsie07]

I dislocated my right shoulder on Mar. 20.  I am still in pain and using a sling, though not all the time now.  The doctor prescribed physical therapy; today I had my third session, where the therapist warned me if I did not improve in the next two to three weeks, I will need surgery.  It is bad enough that I am right handed and have to use my left hand for nearly everything, including writing (I took a math midterm left-handed last week - now that was a challenge)...but it is even worse that I am unable to play piano. It will be at least a week before I can play even five minutes with my right hand without severe pain, and then it will take several months to get back to normal.  What makes this even more difficult is that I am a music major whose primary instrument is piano, and now I might have to withdraw from my performance class because I will be unable to perform my jury, which is most of my grade for the class.  I can't imagine not playing...yet I have to.

My secondary performance area is voice/choral studies, so in the meantime I will focus on learning that music, as well as improving my left hand in my current repertoire.  I will probably also search for some left hand music to work on over the summer.  I'm also taking this time to learn about avoiding and treating musicians' injuries, teaching music to the deaf and hard-of-hearing (something I am considering as a career), and music history/music theory.  I'm continuing to teach music privately, evaluate my future career goals, and try and figure out what classes I need to transfer to university.  So, this time will not be wasted, but it is still very, very hard.

Has anyone ever suffered a shoulder injury or something similar and been unable to play for a period of time?  How did you go about getting back into playing?  Have you continued having any problems since then?

Thanks for any thoughts, advice, encouragement...

[sleepingcats]

Look into "Prolotherapy" for your shoulder injury.  It is a method for repairing injured ligaments.  I'm not a doctor, but I've had many types of treatments for my neck, and I recently hurt my shoulder.  I've initially gone through the MRI, arthrogram, physical therapy, etc. etc.  My next step is trigger point medical massage therapy to "break up" the knotted muscles that I have that cause pain and tightness.  I'm also going to contact my Naturopathic physician about doing the prolotherapy on my shoulder. I'm going to avoid surgery as much as possible, but I also want to get off the pain medication.

[thalberg]

If you want to "break up" knotted muscles or any type of scar tissue, find an ART practitioner at www.activerelease.com

It is the most miraculous medical massage ever.  I recommend it on every injury thread.

To answer the original question---has anyone ever had an injury and been unable to play for a period of time?  YES!

My friend Elena was riding in the car with her boyfriend.  They were doing 70 miles per hour on a long road trip.   He fell asleep at the wheel and hit a tree head on at full speed.  She was so injured she could not play her violin.  She had studied violin at Juilliard since age 7, and was now 21.  For two years she wondered "will I ever play again?"  But then in the end, after a two year period, her body did heal and now she plays as though she never had the accident.


This is a long shot, but also try to find a chiropractor at kcucs.org.  Those guys heal everything.  But it's a long shot because there are only 15 masters in the country and one might not be near you.

[beetroot]

I suffered multiple bilateral fractures of the forearms after falling down stairs 23/4 years ago. This resulted in an external fixator (2 pins and a rod) being fitted on the right wrist for 3 weeks, and an internal fixator (titanium plate) being screwed into the bones of the left wrist, which was discovered during surgery to be broken lengthways also.

This happened not long after returning to piano playing after a period of about 18 years , I thought I would never play again. I followed the physiotherapists exercises, which originally consisted of only making fists and stretching palms out . My physio was also trained in accupuncture which helped with the whiplash, but to be honest the best therapy was doing as much as I felt I could handle of normal daily routine tasks. This increases dramatically as you heal. I couldn't even fasten a button to begin with. My physio advised that it is the muscle build up that takes the most time, as the length of time a joint is immobilised for takes 8 times that period for the muscle to return. (if you are in plaster for 6weeks, it will take 48 weeks to regain pre-injury muscle tone)

I'm currently preparing for DipABRSM which includes Beethovens' Pathetique which would have been demanding anyway having only an octave reach. Don't you love that left hand?  My only continuing problem is my neck/shoulder which still gives me trouble, I have recently tried osteopathy for that but to no avail.

I wish you a full and speedy recovery.  Just compare how much better you are now than immediately after your accident. It may feel like forever, if ever, at the moment, but remember, this too shall pass...

Linz

[elsie07]

Thanks for all the replies. I'm happy to say that only two and a half months after my injury (including two weeks in a sling, a month of writing left-handed, a month and a half on pain meds, two months of physical therapy, a second dislocation of the same shoulder right before finals, and dislocating my other shoulder), I am back to normal and able to have a regular practice routine again! The therapy, along with chiropractic work, really made a huge difference in the pain level and my range of motion.  I still have to be careful, especially considering that the second dislocation occurred while I was practicing, but the doctor said I can basically do whatever I like now, as long as it doesn't hurt.  I ended up doing an incomplete for my performance class, and I am in the process of making up the lessons I missed due to my injury.  Within a month I will perform my jury.  I'm feeling pretty good about where I'm at with my repertoire for the jury; hopefully that will go well.  My teacher and the other faculty have been so understanding about this...I guess they realize there's not much I could have done about it.

I came this close to needing surgery, but am so thankful that I did not, since I would have been unable to play for several months after.  I still have a very weak arm with not much strength (just as you mentioned beetroot...I guess maybe that will take twelve-ish weeks, which brings me to about when I perform!), but that will improve over time.  I am grateful and amazed that I recovered this quickly - I initially thought I would still be unable to play right now, and here I am about to perform my jury, and starting to plan my first solo recital for sometime next year!  I'm so excited!

Thanks again for all your encouraging replies and suggestions.  I appreciate it very much!

[elspeth]

Congratulations! That is good news - and I hope your recital goes well.

Now it's officially healed, keep looking after the injury, though. Swimming will help get the muscles built back up, and it's worth having an occasional massage to keep it in good condition (as long as you don't go to a 'beauty'-style masseur, make sure you get someone well qualified with experience of treating for injuries and recoveries). Plus whatever your doctor has advised, of course.

I have chronic shoulder trouble after a childhood accident, but with a bit of simple maintenance it's not a problem.