Tell us something.: I am an Irish flute player and whistler. I have been a member since 2007? This has been one of the most informative sites on Irish flute I have found.
It seems I have some repetitive stress/tendinits in my left arm and at times in both wrists. Probably from too much flute practice/playing (and picking up/throwing around/holding big babies, my 1 and 3 year olds). I'm bummed because it looks like I have to take a break from practicing/playing, but what's my big hurry anyways?
I'm taking motrin and icing my arm as I write.
Has anyone else dealt with this? What remedies have worked best? I'm definitely worried it won't get better; I've seen people never fully recover from RSS.
Why is it the left hand/wrist that takes the brunt of the tough work? When learning guitar, I had funky left wrist/tendon stuff happening learning to play chords and bar chord on thick steel strings, using the left hand/wrist like never before. This should give me some comfort--I can play guitar now with no discomfort whatsoever, years later.
Had a good deal of this, seem to have escaped it now.
Some suggestions:
1. Overuse is the likely culprit. Are you using
a computer keyboard or doing anything else like that?
Reduce such activity, if possible. Review your whole situation.
2. Review your flute holding position. Check how bent
your wrists are. See if there's something you're doing
that's contributing.
I described in an earlier thread how bopeps and moleskin
can get you a more stable and relaxed grip. Search
on 'moleskin' if you're interested.
3. Take three days off. Use an anti-inflammatory in
reasonably high dosages.
Basically your approach to the flute and to the rest of your
activities will solve the problem.
i might suggest longer than three days. take a couple weeks off, seriously. listen to some music--work on your ear instead of your playing. if you devote the same amount of time on your ear as you do your playing, you will find a great improvement when you pick up your instrument. i had a lot of problems for a while, so i stopped playing for a couple months, and when i picked up my instruments again, i had a better, musical perspective.
i often find that tendon problems are posture problems as well as grip problems. if your posture is adding too much stress on your upper body when you play, that will translate to extra pressure in your tendons. i find working on my posture through yoga, pilates, running, or general exercise helps the tenseness in my upper body and arms. i find by having a better core you can fix a lot of upper body problems, especially after giving your upper body time to recover and loosen up.
one good suggestion is i have been given was to put your hands down at your sides, keep your hands relaxed, and try to replicate that finger position with your flute.
i have no authority on this, but i would bet t hat people with rss who never recover never radically change their posture, walking habits, how they use their upper arms, and how they use their necks. i would suspect that they just try to change how they use their wrists.
i try to do wrist stretches, such as they do in martial arts, as i find it helps when i am putting too much pressure on my tendons. i would say to be careful with these, though, because i dont know a lot about them and was shown how to do them by someone who knew what they were doing.
also, in addition to the icing you already are doing, i would say steaming hot baths help relax tense muscles. as you have kids, it would also be a good idea for your nerves!
take it seriously, I had a nightmare with tendonitis for two years not really understanding what was wrong. Get an ultrasound scan if you can and see what the actual damage is (my doctor completely mis-diagnosed the problem for ages before I got the scan).
do... get a wrist brace or two (you can get good sports braces with a metal support and velcro fittings). Look very carefully at what you do with computers if you use them at work - make sure you have keyboard and mouse pad wrist rests.
don't... do nothing and think it will go away, it won't if you carry on doing what you're doing.
Good news is, mine is better after doing what I should have done two years earlier.
Yep I've had problems here too, from many years painting with heavy sprayguns. A factor that can make this worse is sleeping with your hands curled inwards, my doctor gave me plastic sleeves that kept my wrists straight at night... did they work? Well I dunno I got better anyhow! But at it's worst you could hear the tendon moving in the wrist a sort of rubber on rubber sound...
I had problems with RSI a few years ago. I think the real cause was heavy use of the computer keyboard, but the doctor told me to stop playing my recorder as well. I can't remember how long it was for, but I think it was about three months, to give time for the damage to heal. He said I would probably always have a weakness (it was my right arm, btw). Laying off did the trick, but I have been careful ever since. Fortunately for me I did not have to rely on playing my instrument for my livelihood.
When I started to learn the flute, it seemed to be flaring up again, so I paid a lot of attention to my right hand hold. I think some of the trouble was I was bracing the flute against my pinkie. Anyway, I experimented with my right hand hold to find a more relaxed grip and also cut down on the playing. That seemed to resolve it, but I do have to be careful not to play for too long at a time, whether it is flute, recorder or concertina, all of which I play, or attempt to play.
Learning a new instrument does bring aches and pains because unfamiliar muscles are being used, and also we tend to grip the instrument too tightly because we are not yet confident about holding it. Mostly it goes away, but if it doesn't don't persist, do something about it.
I have a friend who runs a ceilidh band and plays melodeon. She was having problems in her left elbow, but because of the band's commitments could not lay off and in the end had to have a steroid injection. She has been told, however that it is only a temporary measure and she will need to make some changes.
Geoff
Edited to correct grammatical error and to remove duplcate signature
Switch to one of these, which allow you to type with your wrists straight. You'll adapt within an hour or two, and then never want to go back. Even my ex, who complained bitterly about the keyboard when she moved in, demanded her own when she moved out.
And now there was no doubt that the trees were really moving - moving in and out through one another as if in a complicated country dance. ('And I suppose,' thought Lucy, 'when trees dance, it must be a very, very country dance indeed.')
I found this Kinesis keyboard to be very helpful: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinesis_%28keyboard%29
This is a more radical approach than the MS Natural mentioned above. Just like the one above, it'll take a day to adapt. After you get used to these keyboards, though, you'll dislike standard keyboards. The Kinesis isn't cheap, but you can buy them on eBay used.
I also used foot petals (to replace the shift, control and alt keys) when the problem was worst. The little finger is fairly weak, but we make it do a lot of work with a standard keyboard.
More recently I've been doing yoga to ensure that I stretch. It really helps loosen up my body.
You may also want to try a more ergonomic flutes. Casey Burns has a style with offset holes. (I.e., they aren't all in a straight line.) It does make the reach easier.
To help remedy the hand and wrist symptons mentioned in this thread, in additional to the good suggestins already made, I recommend magnetic therapy. Magnetic bracelets are inexpensive and usually available at every larger drugstore and online from a number of sources.
I use magnetic bracelets myself, and I can attest to their efficacy. Prior to the bracelts becoming so readily available, I used to make bracelets, which I sold at health fairs and online. I have received enough feedback from my customers to become a believer in magnetic therapy. I have had the most success with bracelets that use strong magnets that have enough magnetic strength to make a noticable difference. Be careful with your magnetic gift cards, though, as your money may suddenly disappear.
I still wear a brace on my left wrist when I play, 3 years after my initial problems. Icing helped--20 minute sessions. I bought a wrap-around icing thing you put in the freezer. It helped greatly.
Make sure to wear the wrist braces at night. Many people tuck their hands under their heads to sleep--7-8 hours of stress.
My problem was caused by too much computer mousing.
Tell us something.: I am an Irish flute player and whistler. I have been a member since 2007? This has been one of the most informative sites on Irish flute I have found.
Thanks one and all for the feedback. I'm trying to take a full break...can't seem to do it yet ---"SIR, PUT THE FLUTE DOWN--BACK AWAY FROM THE FLUTE." Great suggestions and hope for the future.
Jason
Last edited by Akiba on Mon May 12, 2008 12:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
One thing which gets overlooked in the case of hand problems is the mental aspect. If an injury or recurring problem interferes with your doing something you love, like playing music, the tendency can be to freak out about it, to basically worry yourself into worse shape. I've had a couple of bouts of this sort of thing throught he years, including once when I had to give up playing acoustic guitar for over a year. At least, I thought I had to give up...
There are many, many resources to learn about this sort of problem. Many professional specialize in helping folks with hand difficulties, including physical therapists and chiropractors. While I'll stop short of offering medical advice, my one big hint would be that many arm/hand problems seem to originate upstream. Start off with a massage! Can't hurt. But most of all, realize that even bad cases of tendinitis or carpal tunnel syndrome get resolved over time. You will come back from this, probably sooner than you think. Best of luck,
Rob
p.s. Okay, second big hint: diet and general level of fitness can be a big part of this sort of problem, as can caffeine over-consumption. More info no doubt available on-line.
Ditto Rob. It wouldn't hurt to evaluate your overall level of stress in general. My problems are mostly gone now, except for when I've worried about something at work or in personal life, or even beating myself up over how badly I'm playing.
Otherwise, and FWIW, the main things that helped me with my tendonitis were (1) working with an Alexander Technique teacher to rethink my physical approach to the instrument, and (2) strength training.
Sorry to hear about your tendonitis, Jason. A lot of good advice has been posted here, but the most important advice is to stop playing completely until you are pretty much pain free. I've had a couple of serious bouts with elbow tendonitis as a result of my other passion, rockclimbing, which nearly ended my climbing forever.
Tendonitis can be very stubborn and slow to heal once it really sets in, usually because we ignore the pain in order to continue doing what we love. Mine got so bad that I had to use my left had to open doors, use a mouse, and even pull up my zipper. The last time I had it, I finally went to my doctor who essentially told me to quit climbing and get into physical therapy before the tendonitis became chronic. When it gets bad enough, the last resort is surgery, and once the cutting starts, it's a dice roll regarding the outcome. That got my attention, and I quit climbing for 6 months, and followed a strict elbow rehad program which included a lot of physical therapy.
I didn't think it was going to go away and was getting very discouraged, but then, things suddenly turned the corner, and I healed completley and returned to climbing. My recovery regimen included: big does of anti-inflammatory drugs, icing daily, deep tissue massage (find the sorest spot and massage it deeply and thoroughly), ultrasound therapy, electro-stimulation, heat followed by ice, specific stretches, various exercises using small dumbbells, and squeezing exercises with increasingly more dense therapeutic putty.
Whenever I begin to sense it coming back now, I do the anti-inflammatories, ice, and massage, and monitor it very carefully. It seems like it is sometimes just lurking below the surface waiting to rear its ugly head, and it scares me, so I play it pretty safe now.
Bob
Come to the edge/ It's too high/ Come to the edge/ We might fall/ Come to the edge/ And we came/ And he pushed/ And we flew!
Guillaume Apollinaire
---"SIR, PUT THE FLUTE DOWN--BACK AWAY FROM THE FLUTE." Great suggestions and hope for the future.
