how to recover from overuse syndromes

[Aurelio]

(sorry, I think my English is poor)
I think this topic is important for all of us, to recovery or to prevent problems.

My particular story is the next one:
I started piano lessons 10 years old, I practiced very, very little. At the conflictive age of 13 I abandom the instrument. I re-started to play (on my own, without teacher) at 17 and later, at 19 re-started the lessons, very good learning but with 23 years old (near two years ago) started the problems:

Tension in right forearm, difficulties to separate one fingers from the others (so it's impossible to play chords or octaves, or to give solidity to the right hand to achieve the arm weight technique) and clumsiness and stiffness in finger movements. It's not tendinitis because there is no pain, and it's not a nerve entrapment syndrome because there is no loss of sensitivity. The symptoms are fatigue and tension that don't allow me to move fingers and separate ones from the others, I note that an instinct reaction on my body is to put the right wrist very up and nuckles collapse (arch of the right hand becomes the opposite than the orthodox manner) ¡¡ impossible to play the piano on this way !!, if I relax totally, I achieve to play poorly consecutive notes but without rest the arm weight , and, with octaves or consecutive but separate notes, or chords, I cannot play at all.
The evolution was progressive until I realize that I cannot play with the right hand. The problem is stable from one year ago to now.
I note when I touch me in the right forearm that extensors muscles are harder than muscles of the left one. The zone is the back side of the forearm, you know, but it is not near the elbow, it is not epicondilitis.
Physiotherapists achieve to put these muscles soft but it last two days and in playing I note no improvements. I have read a strange term ("writer cramp"), I have tried to stop for about 2/3 weeks periods but not improvements at all. I have tried to train forearm muscles (extensors) with light weights with no improvements. A Chiropractique achieves the same results than Physiotherapists.

Anybody has ideas about my problem?
Anyone has suffered a similar problem?

Sorry, I'm from Spain and English was not my favourite subject at institute, but it's a great language  

[Chiyo]

Hi, I understand your post, so your English is not that bad at all I want to share my OPINIONS.

I think that the break between your learning cam be your proble. You might have developed wrong way to play piano - having tensions. I don't think it's syndrome stuff, but I think its rather lack of proper posture and technique practice. My piano teachers tell me to relax, that my fingers need to press firmly but my shoulders and arms should be relaxed.
Are you left handed?

But since you said you could play a little when you relax, you should focus on improving your technique by practicing the 60 pieces in the Virtuoso Pianist by Hanon. He has good finger exercises, that might help.

[Aurelio]

Thank you very much for share your opinion

I'm right handed.

I see what you are thinking, you are right but I think it is only part of the problem. It seems obvious to me that I have had technique problems which are contributed to hurt my forehand. The cause is more the very low quality level of piano teaching in Spain than the break between my learning. In any case I agree with you: It's better to have a progressive and good directed learning. OK.

In relation to the technique problems (lack of proper posture and technique practice), it's difficult for me to know what was first: technique problems caused phisical problems, or phisical problems caused technique desviations (now the root of the problem is not important because each problem contribute to make worse the other one). But the phisical problems must have a cause.
Ok,at first I had technique desviation, but TODAY my technique (or, at least, the movements "that my mind think") is not bad.
Actually, as a consequence of mi forearm problem I have developed an extremely relaxed technique. Now the problem is that my forearm (extensors muscless, mainly) is in a chronic state of fatigue and  I cannot solve the problem with anything. If I take rest muscless get weaker, if I try to practice muscless fatigue  increase. I have in a circle without end.

[hotlilgal]

It's strange you mention tension in your right forearm, because I get that as well. I also get pain in the second joint of my third finger, which is slightly bent, and sore shoulders after playing the piano. Sometimes I can scarcely play two notes without having such tension that I can't move my fingers easily. It's pretty mad. Something that helped me was making sure my wrist was VERY relaxed and also taking frequent breaks from practise (eg. every 10-15 minutes). I also use Hanon and, as Chiyo has, found it a great help though I had to do it slowly at first to strengthen my fingers. Hope you find this helpful.  

[Aurelio]

thank you Sarah.

The problem is that I have crossed over a limit and yours and Chiyo recomendations (wrist very relaxed, hanon...) don't help me for the present. (thanks a lot any way)

But, just the next day writing the first post (please somebody who tell me how to write correctly the previows sentence, perhaps this one too   - I'm getting mad).  Well..., the next day writing the first post I visited a new doctor (the fourth one I have visited, a very very pretty woman at her thirties by the way...) and there was one different thing:

This one has been the first doctor to give me a DIAGNOSIS. In Spanish: "Síndrome de fatiga muscular (crónica)" or "síndrome del escribiente" that is...
"muscular fatigue syndrome" or "writer syndrome"

It consist in (just like I was thinking): my rigth forearm muscless have got at a chronic state of fatigue in which muscless don't recover from its fatigue and they are "contracturated" (kick to the dictionary?) so if I try to play the overuse state of them ("contractures") increase, but if I take rest they don't recover.

The bad news for me are that, as the doctor said, it is a injury very burdensome and with slow recovery.

The good news are, it can be cured. I will have to take intensive rehabilitation sessions, not like the ten sessions (psysiotherapists) I have taken in the last year but daily sessions!, so that they don't let my forearm muscless to get hard ("contractures"). Therefore I must stop playing just when fatigue feelings start, and increase very very slowly quantity and movements developed in my practice routine.

Well, sorry about being such a bored guy with these tedious long pragraphs. hope to be a two hands pianist after summer. For the present it can be funny playing the moszkowsky studies for the left hand op. 92.

Bye