Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum playing with hand pain... one practice a day, or two?

I have manageable but annoying pain in my left hand, and I also get stiff hands from playing.

This has been getting better over time. I've been using the dozen a day for about three weeks and it seems to help a lot.

The author says these are 'warm up' exercises that should be done before playing.

I've been splitting my practice sessions into morning (warm ups) and afternoon (music).

But if the purpose of the 'warm up' is to 'WARM UP' before playing maybe I should just get all my playing in one session.

So.... one daily session, or two? Length of time is not changed, it's just all at once or in two separate times.

I go back and forth on this one....

You did not mention the source of the pain in your left hand.

We, sort of, assume it is from playing the piano but that may not be the case.

If it is from playing the piano ... my suggestion is that you should stop playing entirely for awhile until the pain goes away. Pain is nothing to fool with. You can end up with permanent damage.

I would also suggest that when you resume playing you do so with a teacher. I say this because you may need to modify how you play in order to avoid the pain issue reappearing. You should not be experiencing pain from playing the piano.

Without a teacher, I would suggest less intensive practicing for awhile. You need to be able to practice without pain. If it comes again, stop playing a consult a professional.

Good Luck

Same as DMD, if the pain is piano induced stop and take a few days or weeks off.

If it is minor discomfort that is one thing, especially if a person has this from other activities. Pain is a stronger word than discomfort. When discomfort crosses to pain, I stop playing.

I do any number of things to manage my hand discomfort. RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) is the cliche, though elevation doesn't apply for hands. I also limit my practice time to a maximum of one hour per day. Short sessions are better. If it is a one hour block, break it into three or four segments with at least a one minute break in between segments.

I also wear a wide variety of gloves when using a computer or playing the piano or being out and about. For me, cool weather, even air conditioning, working a cool computer mouse, all aggravate the discomfort. Again, if discomfort crosses over to pain, I stop and take a day or two or more off from piano.

I have managed my hand discomfort for many years before piano. When I started piano, I was so enthusiastic, I was doing two hours a day. Within six weeks, I was in pain and decided to take a week off, started wearing gloves while playing, started doing the shorter practice, started using cold packs and soaking my hands in warm water.

I would have it evaluated.

You need to understand why there is pain, if you don't already, and you should never play while in pain.

If you have a condition like arthritis or carpal tunnel then make sure you understand the medical issues (from a doctor and/or PT) and then go talk to a skilled piano teacher who has experience teaching people with the same condition, to get some suggestions on how to play effectively while facing that problem.

If the pain is coming from piano playing, then you can make alterations in your playing to eliminate the pain. To some extent this can be done on one's own (let me try 17 ways of playing an octave and see which ones don't hurt...) but it's easier, faster and safer with a teacher who focuses on physical technique. I'd say this is true for discomfort as well. Piano playing really should be physically comfortable. It is different from dance or sports where new challenges usually cause some discomfort for a while.

Do not play while in pain.
Do not "push through" pain hoping it will make you stronger. That doesn't work with piano playing.