tendonitis

janice · Post by **janice** » Fri Jun 27, 2003 7:23 pm

The good news is that I just got my new half set form Joe Kennedy....the bad news is that my tendonitis has returned with a vengeance. Any ideas on how best to deal with it? I already warm up with whistle (which is particularly hard now- I just wanna play my new pipes!). I'm going to Augusta in 3 weeks, so far I'm the only student in the pipe class and will have Jerry O all to myself for the week!

.

BTW, the new set is quite lovely, the chanter and drones are very mellow and pratically play themselves. I initially had a problem with the back D not being stable, but a visit to Joe's fixed the instability issue.

djm · Post by **djm** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 7:09 am

I hope you didn't get the tendonitis from playing UPs. Is it fingers, wrists, shoulders, etc.? The only part of you that should be working with any degree of hardness is the shoulders and elbows. Your wrists and fingers should be soft as butter.

At a class last summer, Martin Nolan put it that you should not be gripping the chanter with any more strength than you would to hold a plastic drinking straw without collapsing it. He noted that overgripping the chanter was the number one worst habit that most pipers fall into.

There is no cure other than time. Slow gentle stretching is about the only thing you can do to ensure the tendons don't shrink or sieze up.

djm

Tony · Post by **Tony** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 7:31 am

Ouch...
Seek medical attention. You've had tendonitis before? gotta be really careful starting back on pipes after a long break.

I'm still having arm/shoulder problems and a week of ibuprophen does wonders. A friend of mine treated me with acupuncture and acupressure therapy but, it only masked the pain and didn't resolve the problem. I've been trying to get to a massage therapist for weeks.

Paul Reid · Post by **Paul Reid** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 10:26 am

Okay, I'm NOT a doctor - that said, I have had shoulder problems (rotator cuff) from baseball, and a really good RMT I've been seeing has done absolute wonders for me. I also spend a great deal of time on my Mac for design and photography, so a few months back I thought I was feeling symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome. With a little therapy and changing my arm rests and seat adjustments and a new style of trackball/mouse I was better in about three days. It wasn't carpal tunnel, by the way, it was poor posture and lack of exercise.

djm's right about the grip too. Realistically, you just need enough pressure on the chanter holes to keep the air from being released. Keep those hands loose and your touch light. Do you have a flat chanter Janice? Do yourself a big favour and have an hour session witha registered massage therapist and see if that does anything for you. It may help - but again, I'm not a doctor and I have no idea what you really need - just a suggestion

magroibin · Post by **magroibin** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 3:28 pm

Hey Janice,

Congratulations on the new set but I certainly hope that it's not keeping you from getting down to the beach!
As far as the tendonitis goes be sure to see a good Physiotherapist - I recommend the drive into London to go to the Fowler-Kennedy institute (you got the problem from a Kennedy, might as well get it fixed by one!)
In the meantime stretching stretching stretching! If you have inflammation then try some Advil first.
The next time we get together (soon I hope) I can show you some more specific excercises but the Physio is the best way to go!

Paul G

tok · Post by **tok** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 6:14 pm

I am looking at this as an egronomic issue . It is good to have the pipes " fitted " you your bodys specs , and this can easily be done by an expert pipemaker . I happen to have long arms , and a slim waist , for me , I need to shorten the bag neck , and play the bag high up under my arm .
This spells relief for my body type . Another thought is that with some chanters , the hole placement for the " e" can give me some problems as my pinky , and ring finger will not streach enough to play the " e " , without some tendons there being affected . It makes sense to me to find a chanter that is comfortable to play in this regard , and it is surprising how much the playing improves ,,,
tok .

janice · Post by **janice** » Sat Jun 28, 2003 7:10 pm

Thanks guys, wonderful suggestions all. I should have been I little more specific-the problem is my right hand and right hand thumb, and originated when I began playing pipes as an isolated learner...unknown to me at the time, my right hand and body postion were all wrong. I've since corrected both postions, but the tendonitis comes back almost immediately when I play, a direct result of all the years of abuse. I also think that a big contributor to the right hand tendonitis is that I have double jointed thumbs......
It is difficult to keep my right hand thumb from collapsing while I'm playing, when it does, it adds pressure to the back of the chanter (and my hand). I was considering a trip to the Musician's Clinic to see about a thumb/hand brace. Does anybody else have this problem? Or gone the brace route?

boyd · Post by **boyd** » Sun Jun 29, 2003 3:44 am

..when you go to see the physiotherapist, take your instrument with you. He or she will be better able to work out what's happening that way

Boyd

vcolby · Post by **vcolby** » Sun Jul 06, 2003 8:02 pm

Janice,

I had the same problem. You might try the following:

a) 81mg of asparin 1/2 hour before practicing. This will alleviate the inflammation with no side effects at such a low dose other than a lower probability of heart disease, cancer and alzheimer's later in life.

b) Play in front of a mirror. Ensure your fingers are pointing the same direction as the bones in your lower arm. If they are not, you are putting undo pressure on the tendons by forcing them into a direction that is not parallel to the muscles that control them.

c) Ensure that your hands are NOT angled out at the wrist joint, meaning that if you look at your right hand whilst holding the pipe, it should not look like this "<" . Doing so adds another direction change in the tendon, which adds unecessary pressure after playing for a while.

d) The penny whistle is not a good place to warm up, as it requires very little pressure to close the holes. The pipes take significantly more pressure to close the holes (although I know Joe is making a chanter that is easier to blow so I could be wrong). In my case, it was a combination of typing and piping.

e) If you are having tendon problems, the muscles of your arm and hand are likely knotted and poorly stretched. Play for five minutes to warm the muscles of your wrist and then stretch your hands, and wrists. Aikido (the martial art) has perfect stretches for Uilleann Pipers that I use and work very well.

f) Relax when you play. You could be holding the pipe to tightly to make up for slight leaks cause by partial hole covering. Hold the pipe before playing to ensure there are no slight leaks.

Sorry for the long message, but I have discussed this with several orthopedic doctors and physiotherapists.

Cheers,

Virgil

j dasinger · Post by **j dasinger** » Mon Jul 07, 2003 8:29 pm

One tip I got from a Highland Piper to loosen you grip is to practice with your thumb off the chanter. This will seem really squirrely and awkward at first. Do it anyway for about a week just to get your grip really loose. After that just do it every now and again to remind your fingers. After some practice you should be able to play tunes almost as well this way as with your thumb on (unless there are too many bottom D's) If you totally can't do this, it's a good gauge that you are gripping significantly tighter than you need to be. oh, also make sure your set up plays as light as you can make it without sounding bad. Hope it helps.
jd

tansy · Post by **tansy** » Tue Jul 08, 2003 7:48 am

another thing you can do to loosen your grip is to play with your thumb on the c natural key(a few minutes each day) without depressing it, it will help give you the feeling of "non griping" the chanter.
i had a tendenitus (sp) problem and 100 mg. of vit. B6 cured me over a six week period, i read about it somewhere i don't remember, but it worked. it was not a pipe related problem though. i still take it and it has been 4 years now.
sure hope you get well with it soon, living with pain sucks

janice · Post by **janice** » Tue Jul 08, 2003 12:53 pm

JD, thanks for the thumb tip. I tried it and it worked like a charm! An easy and obvious solution....could you hear me slapping my forehead?

Tansy, I'm going to try the B6. I've got a doctor's appointment this week (for tennis elbow, excacerbated by piping, of course!) and will talk over various options with him.

tansy · Post by **tansy** » Wed Jul 09, 2003 9:08 am

hey janice, the tennis elbow is what i had, i over did it mixing cement for a slab, not much for mannual labor, it cost me 1 1/2 years of pain, but it did not effect my playing, i am real relaxed on my hands.
good luck, if you start the B6, mark a day 6 wks. from when you start