Cold Hands

[rtheunissen]

Dear all,

I really need your help! Practically every time I play the piano and it's not 30+ degrees Celsius outside, my hands are incredibly cold when playing. While sitting on the couch or doing anything else my hands are just warm, as they should be, but as soon as I start playing my fingers get colder and colder, until after 15-ish minutes I practically can't play (well) anymore. I've tried everything: changing the height of the chair, putting it further back, or closer to the piano, eating a heavy meal before, or practically nothing, drinking loads of warm drinks like coffee and tea, drinking a lot of water, having cold and warm showers, going for a walk, even taking medication to reduce sweating or dilate the blood vessels (both were not solely for this piano problem, but they also didn't seem to help)... Online I've read that being tense can make your hands cold however, I'm pretty sure I'm not that tense and my teacher never told me I was either...

This is super frustrating and it pretty much makes it so that I can't enjoy playing and that I start doubting myself and my future as I'm starting my first year of conservatory next week...

If someone has any tips or an answer as to why, that would be really appreciated!!!

[geopianoincanada]

I wear these elastic type woolen gloves with the fingertips cut off (they're made this way on purpose so the knit doesn't fray). These gloves help my hands with arthritis as well as keeping warm. I got them off of the jungle website like these:

https://www.amazon.ca/Satinior-Unisex-Finger-Stretchy-Fingerless/dp/B0796M3DL9/ref=sr_1_8?keywords=fingerless+gloves&qid=1693404525&sr=8-8

[rtheunissen]

That might be something to look into, but there has to be a cause for this that I can tackle instead of trying to solve the result...

[lelle]

My understanding and experience with cold hands is that your hands become cold because of reduced blood circulation. I'd consider:
- Anxiety: when you're anxious/stressed your body redirects blood into the large muscle groups in the legs and arms needed to fight or run, meaning away from your fingers and your ability to do fine motorics well. Unfortunately your brain does not distinguish between the fear caused by facing a sabre toothed tiger (where this feature comes in handy) and the fear caused by our monkey brain subconsciously thinking the other monkeys will think badly of us and possibly reject us from the monkey tribe if we do a bad job making noise with the wooden keys.
- Tension: tension particularly in the shoulder and neck area can restrict blood flow out into the arms and hands. This goes a bit hand in hand with anxiety since we typically tense our neck and shoulders when we are worried about something. But it can also be caused by your technique. If you have a habit of tensing the shoulders when you play you will typically get cold hands easily. I used to have this problem a lot when I practiced but it's gotten much better as I've learned to relax better.
- Holding your breath when you play: this is also tension but easy to miss. It will likely contribute to shoulder and neck tension (see above).

EDIT: Like others have said, warming your hands with heaters/gloves or just putting them under the hot water tap should be a decent short term solution. My input is more long term things to look at.

[ego0720]

Dear all,

I really need your help! … even taking medication to reduce sweating or dilate the blood vessels (both were not solely for this piano problem, but they also didn't seem to help)...

What medication? Did the doctor diagnose the problem? Any mention of Raynaud syndrome?

[lostinidlewonder]

Just use a heater?