Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Wrist/Hand Pain

Hi all:

I have been having wrist/hand pain. Went to rheumatologist, had xrays..just showed bone loss. I wonder though if I have tendonitis or carpal tunnel issues. Can anyone relate? What is the next step, MRI? I have called and left message for my rheumi doc for next steps. Will an orthopedist be appropriate or neurologist? No doubt much of my pain is due to years of computer work. Has anyone had carpal tunnel surgery? Please educate me on this if you have. I have not played piano for a long time, but, would like to start again. But, the possibility that pain or hand/wrist limitations will crush my dream of playing again, fills my heart with sorrow.

Dreamer

You want to play very gently on a light touch piano. Avoid scales.

ChopinFan66,

You definitely want to let your doctors tell you what you can and can't do. Short of that you're asking for advice from well-meaning strangers on the internet where there's no accountability and no real knowledge of your particular issues.

I'm not saying no one should comment or contribute to your questions - of course there's a lot of interesting anecdotal stuff you can pick up on the internet. I am saying medical professionals - with your records and X-rays and etc in front of them - can make the proper decisions. Those professionals may be a GP or a specialist or whatever. But they're the ones that are qualified to help you figure out what's going on.

You'll figure it out ... but get to the the right people to get to the right help ..

In addition to the medical "right people" I would include a piano teacher with specialized skill in injury prevention.

ChopinFan66,



+1 for what Mark wisely offered. Carpal tunnel is easily diagnosed, so you should have your doctor test you if that is a concern.

I have a fairly bad case of carpal tunnel (from computer and competitive sailing) and had some of the same fears. Surprisingly, and I want to stress this may not apply to everyone, in my case playing the piano has not exacerbated the condition at all. In fact, although it has not brought back any of the diminished feeling in my thumbs and forefingers, my wrists and hands now feel considerably looser than they did prior to starting piano five years ago. But I am very conscious to STOP immediately if ever I feel discomfort of any kind.

Good luck. I don't believe you have to give up your dream.

Hi ChopinFan,

This doesn't sound like your problem, but just as an encouragement, I've had rheumatoid arthritis most of my life (including two hand surgeries)and have been enjoying playing piano again after many years. I know what you mean that it "fills your heart with sorrow" thinking you might not be able to play. But even if there are issues for you or treatment needed, I doubt you will have to give up on your dream, AFTER following all doctors' advice, of course!

If you get the OK from your doctor to be able to play, then I strongly recommend getting a teacher that can show you proper technique. I personally recommend the Taubman technique, but I'm sure others on this board can recommend other programs.

Good luck. I hope things work out for you. Not being able to play b/c of medical conditions really suck (I myself couldn't play for 20 years b/c of a disorder) so I really sympathize w/ what you're going through.

Do you work out at all? I have carpel tunnel in both of my hands and it's pretty bad. If I leave them above my head while laying in bed at night for more than a few minutes they start to go numb. I started working out about 2 years ago and it has greatly improved the symptoms. If you want to listen to a random person on the internet find a pull up bar and do a false grip hang on it every day for as long as you can. It's going to hurt like crap in the beginning but the more you do it the better your wrists will get. In my own speculation I feel like it is a downward spiraling condition in that you don't want to do anything to your wrists to agitate/inflame them so the muscles and tendons just keep getting weaker and weaker thus leading to more problems. Just my 2 cents but it has greatly improved my condition like I said.

Get a teacher recommendation through Dorothy Taubman's successor organization, the Golandsky institute:

http://www.golandskyinstitute.org/

http://www.taubmanseminar.com/

These are the folks who have by far the best research into piano related injuries.