Tendonitis

[xxhottie88xx]

I have a very scary feeling that I actually developed tendonitis on my back muscle. I also have problem with my right hand pinky, whenever I try to bend it it gets stuck. I can not carry books that are heavier than lets say 4 kg, or a laptop, not to mention a lot of groceries...

Is my weak sound due to tendonitis? Should I do a surgery ? I know a lot of people who are injured do not tell the others about this because it is not good for their reputation, But I would appreciate if anyone can enlighten me about how to get by with those heavy chords right now.

Thanks in advance! 

[outin]

Is my weak sound due to tendonitis?

How could we tell?

Should I do a surgery ?

This not something you ask on a piano forum, you see a doctor if you think you have an injury that requires an operation...

[pianist1976]

I have a very scary feeling that I actually developed tendonitis on my back muscle. I also have problem with my right hand pinky, whenever I try to bend it it gets stuck. I can not carry books that are heavier than lets say 4 kg, or a laptop, not to mention a lot of groceries...

Is my weak sound due to tendonitis? Should I do a surgery ? I know a lot of people who are injured do not tell the others about this because it is not good for their reputation, But I would appreciate if anyone can enlighten me about how to get by with those heavy chords right now.

There's nothing to be ashamed of. Tendonitis is a quite frequent injury on people who plays the piano and it doesn't mean at all the end of a career. I've had it. Famous pianists such as Perahia had it, and that didn't impede him to record such a extreme repertoire as the complete Chopin etudes...

I think that a bad technique may lead to injuries but even having a nice relaxing/relatively effortless technique, muscular overcharge may happen. In my opinion it's normal. Sport athletes start a race or a match stretching, during the race they overload their muscles; after that they stretch again and finally they go to with their chiropractic to undo the muscle contractions. Why we, the pianists, who are a estrange mixture of artists and seat athletes, should not do the same? Maybe not the same way but I think it would be nice to stretch every day and go to chiropractor when we feel we need it.

Should I do a surgery?

I think surgery must be the latest of the latest resource to be used, only when everything else has failed and on a really desperate situation, mainly life/death. I would consult both a chiropractic and a physician. The chiropractic may loose the muscles of the arm and also relax other muscles such as those in the neck and the back, which although it could not seem to be related, as everything in the body is interconnected may relief your arm/hand/finger. The physician may also give you an anti inflammatory (topical and/or oral). He could also prescribe a cold/warm therapy on your muscles or homeopathic medicines. Ask him also if given your physical condition can you do some stretches. They are nice to do before and after playing, and also during your recovery process.

Hope it helps.

BTW, I listened to your "Jeux d'Eau" on Audition room. Beautiful. I wish you the best and a soon recovery.

[awesom_o]

Is my weak sound due to tendonitis?........But I would appreciate if anyone can enlighten me about how to get by with those heavy chords right now.

Thanks in advance! 

It sounds to me as if you lack support within the hand and depend too much upon vertical-weight-based methods of sound production. Careful study of touch-based sound production methods will give your hands the structural integrity necessary to channel the power of the entire body into the sound.

Welcome to the forum!

[xxhottie88xx]

The only reason I thought about a surgery is because my surgeon friend (a gynaecologist) himself went through a surgery to get rid of some problems in his hand. Now it seems like nobody else did surgery...

I know some elder pianist who can not even lift a pan due to injury and they blame it on the piano. If it's due to bad technique I do not think so. If it's due to lack of practise, Yes I think so.

[flashyfingers]

Take a day off. Cut down on practice significantly for a little bit, and mostly work on strengthening/conditioning. DO NOT OMG I REPEAT DO NOT play, or do ANYTHING with your hands, if they feel cold to the touch.

Do you stretch your hands? I honestly think that this pinkie getting stuck issue is not tendonitis. I think that you have a overworked/pulled muscle and that you need to give it proper rest so it can recover (so you can build more strength and muscle mass, muscle needs to reconstruct), then go to a deep tissue massage in your hands after about a week of rest/very light practice. This will relieve years of stress. Tendonitis is tingling, pins and needles in your fingertips, numbness in the fingers. If the finger locks, it is either a trigger finger/extensor damage or you have damage in the muscle that needs to be treated properly with therapy and care.


Most importantly, I would go see a doctor to know for sure. Surgery would take years to recover from.

Keep active, make sure to massage your forearms and stretch often. Also, your shoulders and elbows and back are a very important part in piano playing. My shoulders pop in and out all the time, and this causes some stiffness. Look into that!

BE ADVISED, I AM NOT A DOCTOR!

ONE thing that has really helped me is the LIQUI GEL IBUPROFEN. every 4 hours for a day or two, and then after practice and in the evening for...a while, possibly the rest of your life. Make sure to eat very well, treat your stomach with care, because Ibuprofen can take a toll on it. MY FAVORITE IS EMU BLUE gel for external use. It is EMU oil, Glucosamine, msm and aloe vera based. Very effective for pains such as arthritis and inflamed tendons.

I also take Glucosamine supplements and Fish Oil.

You could go get a steroid shot, see if it relieves some of the deep tissue inflammation, (if you have that). You could see a chiropractor, and they could do a heat sensor scan, to see how much inflammation there is, and they would let you know how serious your issue is.

Hope that helped and gave you a little bit of hope.

[flashyfingers]

Also, check out KT tape.

https://www.amazon.com/KT-Synthetic-Kinesiology-Therapeutic-Tape/dp/B003DV9JGO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1403579399&sr=8-1&keywords=kt+tape+pro

[indianajo]

The first thing to do when one develops tendonitis is to lay off doing what you were doing, for a few days.  
Until one reaches his forties or fifties, natural hormones should take care of the inflamation in less than a week.  
Secondly, consult an instructor as what one is doing to cause the inflammation. It might be the piano, it might be carrying books or devices.  Consult a library textbook on ergonomics to examine the range of movements you do and which of them might be incorrect.  Before students had backpacks, I caused a habitual spinal curvature by carrying books a certain way, which was not ideal.  There is more knowledge about movement now.  
I'm pretty negative on surgery.  While waiting in line at the dollar store last week, one person complained about their continual pain from the back surgery, followed by another, followed by another.  Hand surgery is not back surgery, but I knew some people at the factory I worked at that had hand surgery, and none of them had a wonderful pain free life afterwards.  
I went to a surgeon when I had a foot problem thirty years ago, and without x-raying anything, he suggested I take triple anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen) ie 6 a day instead of the two it says on the package.  I was pain free while I did that, but the pain came back right afterwards.  That problem was solved by a podiatrist, one recommended by a co-worker, that taped my foot up in a special way, and I was pain free in a couple of weeks and the problem has never reoccured in 30 years.  
There are surgeons and surgeons. I had a friend that had neck pain due to an auto accident, and the surgeon at the army hospital, after a couple of weeks, strapped him to a table and did one of those pulling twisting movements you hear about chiropractors doing.  Then he was fine.  So not all regulation has to be done by a chiropractor, some surgeons can do it.  
As far as snapping finger joints, I have two, and neither impacts my piano playing.  Perhaps yours are more serious, only a physician could really tell.  
So if a week off and a few ibuprofen pills doesn't make the pain go away, go see a professional.  If you are in school, the school medical department should cover it.  Cortisone I view as a high powered take once medicine. I've had it for being unable to walk, I have a spare set of cortisone pills, (prednisone) and I walked with a crutch for four days last week instead of take the cortisone. (I have no cartledge in my knees, Army combat boot damage. the orthopedic surgeon says "stop walking and biking so much" which is a good way to damage your heart IMHO).  Cortisone is so powerful that it will cover up any pain, but maybe you should listen to the pain and use it as a signal to learn how to move without causing the damage the pain is reporting.  good luck with whatever you do.  

[awesom_o]

I could be wrong, but I don't think surgery is used to treat 'tendinitis'.

Typically, doctors will prescribe non-steroidal-anti-inflammatory drugs, together with lots of rest.

Tendinitis (sometimes spelled tendonitis) refers to inflammation of the tendons. It's not something that affects the muscles. Also, there are quite a few muscles in the back, not just one.

If you have a weak sound, it's because you don't understand how to have a more powerful sound. 

Also, what good would it do you to have a surgical operation on your hands if the problem you are trying to solve is actually in your back? 

[pianist1976]

The only reason I thought about a surgery is because my surgeon friend (a gynaecologist) himself went through a surgery to get rid of some problems in his hand. Now it seems like nobody else did surgery...

Please, let's stop all together this madness of unnecessary surgery!

- Many people do surgery because someone s/he knows did and it went well. Reality is that it doesn't happen always this way. I had a painful case very close into my family: surgery didn't solve the problem, it made it worse! (this case was a knee operation).

- Many physicians recommend surgery while they don't even take a look to other alternatives. In every case I think a second opinion must be always seek.

- As they said above, tendonitis can be treated other ways than surgery. I insist on the idea of asking for a good chiropractor.

- Recovery from a surgery operation is usually long and painful. For example, operations on carpal tunnel or similar makes the hand disabled many months, and the result and recovery of mobility after is uncertain.

Please, don't commit something that could be a potential stupidity just because someone did it and it went well. In the case of muscle injuries I think there's always an alternative.

[flashyfingers]

z

[flashyfingers]

Also, you should always ice your muscles if you feel a burn in them, or in general after a heavy practice. For joints that feel stiff, you could use heat.

[mikeowski]

A stuck finger sounds like triggerfinger syndrome which (like tendinitis) is treated with either a steroid injection or a pretty much risk-free operation.
Triggerfinger syndrome however does indicate bad technique involving too much pressure.

[xxhottie88xx]

I do have trigger finger, that's why my friend recommended surgery. But I will try the Ibupnofen and steroid injection first!

[outin]

pretty much risk-free operation.

No operation is completely risk-free and sometimes complications may be worse than the condition treated. So it's always better to try other options first.

[j_menz]

So it's always better to try other options first.

It's also better to get a proper diagnosis from a doctor working in the field (ie, not a gynaecologist for you hands) first.

And best to avoid completely anonymous quack wannabees on the internet.

[flashyfingers]

It's also better to get a proper diagnosis from a doctor working in the field (ie, not a gynaecologist for you hands) first.

And best to avoid completely anonymous quack wannabees on the internet.

I'm pretty sure the OP just wanted to know more about pianists (or wanna-be quacks) that have dealt with any similar injuries or symptoms, and how the issues were addressed.

Have you ever had an injury to your hands (either due to piano playing or something else), and did you continue to play or did you take time off??

[j_menz]

Have you ever had an injury to your hands (either due to piano playing or something else), and did you continue to play or did you take time off??

Sharp knives and I are not a happy combination.  And whether I had time off depended on the amount of blood and the exact location of the wound..

[flashyfingers]

Sharp knives and I are not a happy combination.  And whether I had time off depended on the amount of blood and the exact location of the wound..

ROFL. How idealistic is this?!

[flashyfingers]

By the way, about the steroid shot!!! There is a risk of bone necrosis! So, try the good ol' ibuprofen and ice and rest method, first. What helps me is the wrist/arm wraps with sticky ends (the kind for weightlifting), wrap it right below the elbow to add pressure onto the forearm. IDK why, but it helps feel more loose in the hand.

https://www.sportchalet.com/product/301301_3130385.do?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=301301_3130385&utm_campaign=product_listings&gclid=CjgKEAjwz7mdBRDS46_ipNqqsEQSJAC4rrGkUzz9GfDcVXSLJ7cltwbdU7BB5Ux5I7Nz-EoGobsmy_D_BwE

Please consider treating tennis/golf elbow, first. If you press the top part of your forearm, and right where the funny bone meets the rest of your arm, and if you feel pain, this means you have inflammation.
Check this out! You can use this, and it still allows for use of wrist and hand!

https://www.kingbrand.com/Tennis-Elbow.php?REF=Z.Tennis.X

[theholygideons]

kids, don't do drugs.

[xxhottie88xx]

By the way, about the steroid shot!!! There is a risk of bone necrosis! So, try the good ol' ibuprofen and ice and rest method, first. What helps me is the wrist/arm wraps with sticky ends (the kind for weightlifting), wrap it right below the elbow to add pressure onto the forearm. IDK why, but it helps feel more loose in the hand.

https://www.sportchalet.com/product/301301_3130385.do?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=301301_3130385&utm_campaign=product_listings&gclid=CjgKEAjwz7mdBRDS46_ipNqqsEQSJAC4rrGkUzz9GfDcVXSLJ7cltwbdU7BB5Ux5I7Nz-EoGobsmy_D_BwE

Please consider treating tennis/golf elbow, first. If you press the top part of your forearm, and right where the funny bone meets the rest of your arm, and if you feel pain, this means you have inflammation.
Check this out! You can use this, and it still allows for use of wrist and hand!

https://www.kingbrand.com/Tennis-Elbow.php?REF=Z.Tennis.X

yah ill give that a try. btw I like ur signature