reckless pianoteacherless idiot (me) now suffering from wrist pains

[leighbee13]

(start here if you like long rambling pieces of descriptive text)
I am 19 and have played piano with a piano teacher since I was about 7. I was never really any good, getting to about grade 4-5ish by the time I left school at 18, but I always really enjoyed playing piano. I've been on a gap year this past year so i've not continued with piano tuition but my ferver for playing has increased dramatically (from once a week-ish to a few hours a day). Now that I can play whatever I want to play, practice isnt so boring anymore. I'm gonna say I like loud pieces with lots of octaves in the left hand and twiddly bits in the right (technical language, i know). Lots of heavy piano bashing basically. I have gone from boring minuets to playing Joplin and Phillip Glass, and its so much more fun but heres where the trouble is...
(start here if you dont want to hear the long rambly back story)
My wrist hurts a bit whenever i try to play piano now and I reckon its because i dont have a teacher and i'm recklessly (and badly) bashing out pieces beyond my grade. Consideing my 2 of my favorite things in the world are computing and piano playing i'm pretty much a recipe for carpal tunnel.
what do I do? getting a teacher is not financially viable but i feel the pain isnt so great that I should see a doctor about it. Are there any excersises I should be doing before any heavy duty playing? At the mo I pretty much tend to get straight to it.
I love my piano so much I cant get carpal tunnel it would suck so much I cannot describe.

Thanks for any help you can offer!
Leigh

[birba]

IF it's carpal tunnel (and it doesn't sound like it to me) a little operation will cure everything up.  I have a colleague who had it done and can play now much better than before.

[leighbee13]

Ooh at least its curable! Would still suck though. Any tips on avoiding this fate?

[stevebob]

At the very least, it sounds as though you were trying to do too much too soon; a few hours a day is a big change from your previous routine, and, as you've said, difficult repertoire is another factor adding to the stress.

I know nothing of the physiology of repetitive stress injuries, but the best advice I can give you is to stop practicing entirely for a while (until your body has had time to recover from whatever the problem is, if that's possible).  Whatever you do, don't try to play through pain.

After some time has passed and you feel ready to test the waters again, take frequent breaks from practice and force yourself to limit the overall duration of your sessions.

Although you said you don't think this merits seeing a doctor, doing so would be, in my opinion, the safest and wisest course of action.  I can't say whether you would benefit from having a teacher or not, but I would guess that there are fewer bad doctors out there than bad teachers.  I think that even a doctor who doesn't specialize in RSIs would be more helpful than a clueless teacher.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery and getting back to what you love. 

[leighbee13]

Thanks so much for the encouraging reply!
Cold turkey? Ouch. I guess it would do the trick. Maybe limit my self to playing through one whole piece a day until it subsides? When this stops I'll definitely be more careful in the future and limit my playing sessions, find some sensible pieces I like to intersperse with the stupid ones I love and not repeat the left hand of the maple leaf rag for a whole day until it hurts (yeah maybe thats what did it). I have quite tiny hands so I feel i have to smash my entire fist into the piano whilst stretching further than I should to get any decent noise out of it. I just want to have the kind of skills to create a lovely sound without having to cause myself physical pain and without shelling out for a teacher who could be as useless, dull and uninspiring as my previous teahers. Also I do no warm-ups which I remember being a part of my old lessons, should I? do I have to? I dont want to but would it help?
If it continues (eugh I can feel it when I type now) I'll see a doctor I promise.
Thanks

[stevebob]

Leigh, I think you really do need to take a complete break lest the problem become any worse.  Obviously you're not going to immobilize your wrists, but any further stimulus of the sort responsible for the symptoms you're having must to be avoided completely.

I can't see any downside to doing exercises to warm up when you resume practicing, especially given that you have time for them in your routine.  Everybody's different, so I couldn't say whether you need them; my own feeling about warmup exercises and technical exercises alike is that if you need them, you'll benefit from them—and, likewise, if you benefit from them, then you needed them.

At some point, it will be necessary to try to assess what you may have been doing wrong.  Remember that nothing should cause pain during practice or result in pain afterward.  From what I understand, unnecessary tension is the most frequent culprit in these sorts of injuries (assuming that basic stuff like posture, seating position and other ergonomic concerns have been ruled out).

So stop practicing for now!  The piano will still be there when you're ready to get back into it, so don't try to rush the healing process either.  There's too much at stake not to err on the side of caution.  I recommend you use the newfound free time to immerse yourself in listening to music, perhaps auditioning repertoire you're curious about but not familiar with.  The combination of YouTube for recordings and IMSLP for scores to read along with as you listen is unbeatable. 

[leighbee13]

OK fine I will take a break Its gonna be hard though.
I dont think you quite realise just how much free time I already had! I have 2 months to fill before I go to uni, i'll have to take up something else thats time consuming. I will try and listen to some music and read some scores and watch youtube. I'm going to find some piano warm up videos as well and see if that will help. I know what I'm doing wrong, I think, I just dont know how to saftely play the songs I'd really like to play. I'd rather practice one complicated and decent song for months than learn 10 easy boring songs. I just need to take it a bit easier, Ive learnt my lesson.

[njordan]

I've heard it suggested to practice one hand at a time more (both drills and songs), which in effect gives the other hand a break.

[faulty_damper]

I'd like to see a video of you playing so that I can offer a visual diagnostic of your technique in question and possibly offer a solution to your pain.

[go12_3]

Go take a visit to a doctor to determine what and how the pain is hurting...
I've read enough threads of pianists having pain in their hands, or wrists or
arms....and that should never ever happen to anyone.  Piano playing should
come naturally and easily...none of this suffering.  So take a nice break from
playing piano and check with a doctor is what I'd recommend. 

[leighbee13]

@njordan : I already do this but only when initially learning the songs, but I like to work hands together for the making it sound nice part cos you get a more whole idea of how you want it to sound.

@faulty_damper : I would love to do this but I am taking the advice of stevebob and not playing at all for a while. Maybe in a week or so I will and you can tell me if what I excpect to be wrong is correct.

@go12_3 : I'm going to give it a week or so and then if it still hurts I'll go to a doctor.

[keyboardclass]

Sounds like poor technique.  You need a good teacher not a doctor.

[leighbee13]

After an excruciatingly long 5 days with no piano and wearing some very fetching wrist supports, my wrists feel much better. I try to stretch out my wrists before I play now. I'm also trying to cut down on the frequency and duration of my piano playing, but it is difficult.
@Keyboardclass Yes Its definitely poor technique. However I feel as though its not worth me getting a teacher for something I just want to do for fun. Also it sounds bratty but I dont want to be told what to play and have set goals to play this to this standard by this lesson; it makes it a chore to do. I'm going to try filming my playing at some point for faulty_dampner maybe you can have a look as well and give me a rough idea of where the pain stems from.

[keyboardclass]

I'm happy to comment.  There are teachers who do what you tell 'em but I must admit they're rarer than good ones even.

[lostinidlewonder]

Someone with pain shouldn't be doing exercises or heavy duty pieces. Try sticking a pencil under your wrist to just underneath your 3rd finger and play like that for a bit.