Klarinet Archive - Posting 000958.txt from 1997/02

From: "Diane Karius, Ph.D." <dikarius@-----.EDU>
Subj: Re: male & female players
Date: Thu, 27 Feb 1997 11:55:04 -0500

Regarding the question on how to prevent/minimize the occurrence of carpal
tunnel and other related repetitive strain injuries in musicians:
there are several excellent books that outline a series of stretching
exercises which I (and others) have found to be very effective (I have
developed a raging case of medial epicondylitis (aka tennis elbow) that is
aggravated by computer use, clarinet and guitar). One of these is
entitled "Repetitive Strain Injury" (subtitle: a computer User's
guide) by E. Pascarelli, M.D. and D. Quilter. It is published by
Wiley and costs about $15.00. This book actually mentions the fact
that musicians are prone to such disorders. I know of no book
specifically designed with the musician in mind - but I haven't had
time to really investigate that.
I know several clarinet players who have developed carpal tunnel
syndrome in their right hands (this most commonly occurs in the dominant
hand). Most have them have found that to minimize symptoms (or to be
able to play at all) they must use a neck strap so the weight of the
clarinet is not on the right thumb. They also wear the wrist
brace(s) while playing. I should note that most of these people have jobs
that are strongly linked to the developement of carpal tunnel syndrome, so it
seems likely that the clarinet was one more aggravation to the
condition, rather than the primary cause of the condition. Since
I'm left handed, my problems are in my left arm and there's not much
I can do about the bend of my elbow while playing clarinet. I wear a tennis
elbow brace whenever I play clarniet to minimize the strain
on my elbow. If it gets painful, I apply ice packs immediately after
playing and take an anti-inflammatory (any aspirin-related product -
I have found naproxen (related to the over-the-counter Alleve) or ibruprofen
to be particularly effective).
sorry this is so long - I hope it helps.
Diane R. Karius, Ph.D.
Department of Physiology
University of Health Sciences
2105 Independence Ave.
Kansas City, MO 64124
email: dikarius@-----.EDU

   
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