Wrist pain

[brsmpianist]

Hello everyone... have a question... for the upcoming semester I have almost all large-hand pieces, and ive been practicing on these for like 4-5 hours a day; then i started noticing light twinges of pain in my inner wrists, pinky joints, and my whole hand in general(my hands are quite small).  should i be alarmed yet, because i dont want to tell my teacher yet if its nothing... what does everyone think??

[Siberian Husky]

you may have just stressed them..but if this is chronic..and persists..drop the pieces..or find a new way of playing..and see a doctor..or you'll regret it later

[vera]

Pain of any kind sets the alarm bells ringing. Do not keep playing that stretchy stuff. At least let it rest for a few days, and if you have small hands, do not play too much of that sort at the same time. Be very careful.

[xvimbi]

Hello everyone... have a question... for the upcoming semester I have almost all large-hand pieces, and ive been practicing on these for like 4-5 hours a day; then i started noticing light twinges of pain in my inner wrists, pinky joints, and my whole hand in general(my hands are quite small).  should i be alarmed yet, because i dont want to tell my teacher yet if its nothing... what does everyone think??

First of all, always pay attention to any deviation from normal. You never know whether your pain is a fleeting incident or the beginning of something serious. Second, don't be afraid to tell your teacher and to talk to fellow pianists. You'd be amazed how often you'll hear "yes, I've had that too". Third, brush aside anything like "Don't worry. Just keep on doing what you've been doing, do it even harder, and it will go away." Doing movements that you are not accustomed to for 4-5 hours a day is never a good idea. Always start slowly and gently increase the activity so that the body has time to adapt. This assumes that you are not doing any wrong movements, so check with your teacher.

Keep in mind: pain is never good. It is always a warning sign. Although the body can often adapt while doing the same thing, it often enough cannot. You should not take any risks. The list of injured pianists is too long to be ignored.

[brokenagraffe]

when i have the slightest wrist pain, i take it hella seriously. my mind's like "OOOOOH SHIIIIIIT SONNNNNNN!!!!!" and then i take apart pieces and figure out wrist motions and hand positions that are most (or more) suitable for my own hand.
doing too much octaves or something?

[raw_passion]

Jesus, I'm the same as brokenagraffe! I get RSS and tendonitis in my ankles, and my mother gets it in her wrists from typing alot. She says if I keep on typing 110 words a minute, I'll get it in MY wrists too! Christ, I hope not!

But I am always panicked it'll spread, even though my physiotherapist says there's no reason for it to. But if you are doing "big hand" pieces, that is obviously the reason why - and the pain will go away when the pieces do! it's when there's no reason for it that you ought to worry. If I sit so much as a centimetre too low, my wrists ache...

[Daevren]

Stop playing.


If you really need to play, go to a (good) doctor.

[Bouter Boogie]

Why stop playing? Don't stop playing, just pay a lot of attention to your technical abilities, because wrist pain is often caused by a wrong technique. Don't hide it for your piano teacher, I mean, he or she probably wants to help you, right?
If it becomes more worse, ask a doctor for advice.. But I think it might be very useful to check out your technique first, before panicing and stuff 

Good luck!

[quantum]

Try this: let your arm go dead then shake your wrists, do for a few seconds.  This helps relax the muscles. 

If you are doing a lot of octave stuff, try shaking while you play.  You may miss a lot of notes at first, but the point is to get your writs not to tense up.  This feeling of shaking when you play may need some time to get used to, but you'll soon get to differentiate how your wrists should feel when they play.