I was practicing scherzo 3 in the morning before I was warmed up (very stupid) and suddenly my left hand/lower forearm started feeling odd. A tense feeling and very slight pain in the 'boney' area of my hand. My left fingers also shake very slightly. I can see them it I hold my hand still and look at them.

Obviously playing what I did when I did was a stupid move... do I have an injury because of it? How could I help an injury like this? Should I take a break from piano for a couple of days? I'm kind of freaked out right now...

PLEASE have a doctor to look at your precious hand. I had pain in my right hand that generated up my arm. I did not see a doctor and played thinking it would go away... Not... A tendon ruptured, and I had to stop playing piano for 6 months to heal. Sandra M

I don't think he needs to see a doctor from just this.

Joel: Give it a good rest for at least a few hours, maybe try warming up gently later on, if there's any touch of the same symptoms, wait longer, like till tomorrow, and try again. I'd bet it'll be OK at least by tomorrow.

If not, do what Sandra said.

And indeed, this is an example of how it can be bad to just plunge into our playing without being warmed up.

P.S. Thanks for the nice little comment on youtube -- I'm assuming it was you.

Okay I will wait until tomorrow to see if it has gone away.




And yes, that's me! I think you do a good job on both pieces but I really like the Danse Eccentrique. Very good!

His Danse Eccentrique... such a good piece... written at very young age too. During his movie "The Last Romantic" he plays some improvisation that leaves me awestruck. Not because of some outstanding technical piece, but by a simple little tune. He should have become a composer... really...

Here it is!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2hwLYZd6iyA#t=12m08s

Yes -- thanks! I would have replied on the youtube page but couldn't because somehow my account got screwed up and I'm not able to log in to it! (Long story....my e-mail got changed, that account is under the old e-mail, and youtube doesn't allow me to log in except under my new e-mail, which was made a new account. Pretty screwy.)

BTW, how's the hand?

For minor discomfort, start with ice and rest. I use a cold water bottle instead of an ice pack. A day or two of rest would be a start. Soaking in warm water can also help. If discomfort is becoming pain, especially chronic pain, especially if the condition is lingering for weeks, seek medical assistance.

No matter the case, take it easy when you go back to playing. Diving right in again is looking for trouble.

Well it's 8:36 PM and my hand feels fine. It's definitely gotten better since this morning, but I'm gonna give it another full day.

Thanks everyone.

I would give it the extra day, and definitely ice it as suggested. If the symptoms do not improve within 48 hours, see the doctor. Heat may not help (I'm guessing this is an acute, inflammation-induced issue). Typically, you only use heat for chronic injuries with no inflammation or swelling (ie sore/stiff muscle/joint pain). If you want, you can use heat before playing, because it will help loosen you up and stimulate blood flow, but not after. You should almost always use ice after the activity.

Here is a really good 'basic' article on heat vs ice: http://sportsmedicine.about.com/cs/rehab/a/heatorcold.htm


It is interesting that you say the 3rd scherzo, and only the LH. It leads me to believe there may be some underlying tension in your playing. Did you feel the pain while playing? How long would you say you were playing before you felt it? In which section did you feel it? (Octaves or the middle section?) How much time do you spend practicing per day?

I think there is underlying tension in my octaves. And yes, it was the octave section. Actually, and this might have been a bad idea, but a couple hours after the injury happened I went back to the piano with my still slightly crippled hand and played the octaves again, only this time it forced me to play with no tension, even if it meant slowing down a little bit. And I'm happy to say that I was playing BETTER with an injured hand than with a good hand... I guess the forced no-tension playing really helped.

That really was going to be my guess, because it's a unique challenge to the 3rd scherzo vs the other three. But I didn't want to jump all over it and then be wrong.

Any chance you can post a video (in a couple days when the soreness is gone) of you practicing it? I'd like to take a look. Maybe we can help reduce some of that tension?

I can give it a shot. My camera's audio doesn't work so I'm going to have to record it straight from my computer using audacity while the camera is rolling then sync them up after. Not to hard to do, but is that kind of sound quality good enough?

Great, that sounds like it would work. I'm more concerned about visual than audio. Sometimes, when the visual is really close, the audio can tip you off to an issue, but most of the time I can spot things just by seeing the hands move.