Need some help with a pain.

[jim stone]

No, I'm not after 'medical advice,' this is lore. The first line of defense when pain arises playing an
instrument is to talk with other musicians. I will go to a doctor if it doesn't go away (who, if my
experience is any indication, will know less about it than I/we do).

After 13 years of playing I've developed a pain just below the shoulder blade of my right arm.
I'm pretty sure it's muscular, there's nothing else in the vicinity, I think. I play right-handed.
I've been playing a good deal and I'm getting older (and older) but I am in pretty good shape,
working out, lifting weights (in moderation). Doing that for a long time.

Anybody had this? Anything you did that helped? I think this sort of thing is not uncommon.
PM me if you hesitate to post in the thread. Thanks to all. I don't like this pain.

[Sirchronique]

Lol... Asking people what they did to help it is certainly medical advice :p .

I will say that lifting weights isn't always easy on one's joints. I'm extremely hypermobile in most of my joints, which means I get a lot of aching in my shoulders, but luckily nothing related to flute playing. The best thing to do is to refrain from doing anything that brings about the pain and rest it, followed by getting ahold of a medical professional to get real qualified advice.

[jim stone]

Yes, rest is a very good first idea, which I am doing. If you wish to call it 'medical advice,' I won't argue, but it isn't the sort of thing that I think is meant to be excluded here. (Neither is the advice to apply hot water to one's hands before playing and to apply ice afterwards, as a hedge against injury and tendinitis--widely practiced by musicians.) Anybody have anything else? I wonder if the weight of the flute can make a difference? Has anybody else here had these symptoms? Thanks.

[TheHammerer]

Those are pretty much the symptoms of tendinitis.

[jim stone]

Thanks to all. I hope rest will help. I'm also going over my weight lifting to see if anything in particular is causing the problem. Maybe I can shift to whistle for awhile, too.

[Nanohedron]

If I could see how you play, I might be able to offer some help. I would prefer it to be hands-on. Care to make a trip to Minneapolis?

If you know anything of the basics of the Alexander Method, you might try falling back on that and see if it sorts anything out. And no, I'm not an Alexandrian in any doctrinaire sense; I find some of his ideas frankly discardable. But the basics have been a plus in my physical life.

[monkeymonk]

It would be helpful to know how long the pain has been there and wether or not it's getting worse.

Bob

[jim stone]

The pain started about five days ago. I rested and it got better, but then I had a couple of gigs and it's getting worse. I've stopped playing entirely. I've played for over a decade, often an hour a day, without this difficulty--till now. I'm thinking hard about weight lifting, though I've been doing that forever. Thanks, everybody.

[monkeymonk]

The pain started about five days ago. I rested and it got better, but then I had a couple of gigs and it's getting worse. I've stopped playing entirely. I've played for over a decade, often an hour a day, without this difficulty--till now. I'm thinking hard about weight lifting, though I've been doing that forever. Thanks, everybody.

Five days isn't very long. I would definately stop lifting weights for now and try to rest the area. I have learned from my own mistakes that massaging, stretching, etc can make matters worse so it's best to just rest and take an NSAID like ibuprofen and then see someone if the pain doesn't go away or gets worse.

I've had a ton of rotator cuff problems but never felt anything below the shoulder blade.

Best of luck,
Bob

[awildman]

I have a pain in my shoulder blade area that sounds very similar. I'm guessing it was something minor at first and was exacerbated by my inflammatory arthritis. Now it gets irritated by everything. Or nothing. Even sitting or standing annoys it. Playing fiddle or flute tends to make it worse, but not unbearably so...I've learned to tune out non-major pain long ago. I've not been able to treat it with ice or anti inflammatories or rest or exercise. Nothing works. Don't be me: see a doctor before it gets bad.

Btw, if it is tendonitis or some sort of inflammation, you might think twice about heavy lifting with that muscle group......

[jim stone]

Most grateful to everybody, including people who have PMed me. This is all helpful info. I'm continuing to rest,
and may try to get to a physical therapist. Thanks for everyone's concern. I'm less confused.

[jim stone]

I went to see my doctor, who is Chinese, a Wash U MD, and virtually omniscient.
He says I have a knot in the muscle in my back just under the shoulder blade
on the right side of my back. He put his hand on just that place, immediately.
He recommended lying on a carpet, and using a tennis ball under my back
to massage the knot. He said sometimes these things just happen.
I think somebody recommended the tennis ball response
in a PM. Thanks again, everybody.