 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: Martha
Date: 2006-07-05 22:02
I'm a very serious high school student and summer is my practice time. Each day I practice for hours but lately I have been having trouble with my hands, particularly my thumbs. There is a pain/weakness that runs from the tip of my thumb to my wrist. I have tried a neck strap which didn't work very well and I am considering a chair attachment. I find this very frightening because my it could change my whole future if I cannot continue playing the clarinet. Please let me know of anything at all that might help! thanks
|
|
|
|
|
Author: tictactux ★2017
Date: 2006-07-05 22:08
See your doctor. It can be anything (well, a lot), and diagnoses via a newsgroup are difficult.
In the mean time, give your hands some rest.
--
Ben
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Ryan25
Date: 2006-07-05 22:11
I agree with Ben about checking with a doctor and giving your hand some rest. I would also add that doing a lot of streching of your hands before, durring, and after you play may also help. First thing is to take a break and see a professional.
|
|
|
|
|
Author: C2thew
Date: 2006-07-05 23:00
HAHA you guys are going wayyyyyyyy out of your heads. Simple problem. Change your thumbrest! Check out the etude thumbrest by tom kooiman. woodwind and brasswind sells it for about 26.95 plus shipping. I own 3 of them, and have long since abandoned the standard thumbrest and rubber thumbrest cushion combo. HOnestly if you are playing your clarinet that long, that is the standard sideffect. But using a ergonically designed thumbrest is the way to go. i don't have any pains from the etude thumbrest. try it yourself. it beats paying $100 just to see a professional that will tell you to "take more breaks inbetween practicing"
your developing the clarinet hand. protect it with a thumbrest that shifts the weight closer to your hand.
seriously i do own three of them. i love them.
Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. they are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which was already but too easy to arrive as railroads lead to Boston to New York
-Walden; Henry Thoreau
|
|
|
|
|
Author: clarinetwife
Date: 2006-07-05 23:55
C2thew wrote:
try it yourself. it beats paying
> $100 just to see a professional that will tell you to "take
> more breaks inbetween practicing"
You may recommend anything you wish thumbrest-wise but don't discount the need to seek medical help for pain and weakness. Martha's concern for the future is quite appropriate.
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Ryan25
Date: 2006-07-06 00:08
"HAHA you guys are going wayyyyyyyy out of your heads. Simple problem. Change your thumbrest!"
Martha already said that using a neck strap did not help the problem. Advising someone to buy a product that may or may not work (and is also known to break quite easily) is not the best advice. Just because those thumb rests work for you does not mean they will work for everyone. Usually when people play with this type of pain, they develop tendonitis. Yes it is possible that she is developing strength and is sore but maybe not. The fact that she has pain all the time shows me that she should go to a doctor to make sure something is not wrong or damaged. And what would your advice be if she got a new thumb rest and the pain did not go away? Then go to a doctor? So instead of 100 for the doctor, she has now spent 140 for the doctor and a thumb rest that she might not need. Better to be cautious and responsible in my opinion.
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Cuisleannach
Date: 2006-07-06 01:26
Fatigue is one thing....actual pain is another entirely. It may be that all she needs is a different thumbrest or or a better hand position. The trouble is that hand problems (things like carpal tunnel syndrome and ulnar nerve entrapment) are fairly easy to treat when caught early and almost impossible to treat w/o surgery when not (and who wants that).
Our mouths and our hands are the most expensive parts of our instruments because they are irreplaceable and very hard to repair. When your clarinet has a crack you fix it...our hands deserve the same degree of respect.
-Randy
|
|
|
|
|
Author: FDF
Date: 2006-07-06 02:14
Your problem occured to me when I was in college. A misdiagnosis caused me to abandon my hopes for a career as a clarinetist. Two different doctors thought it was a differnet problem. The first told me to bandage my hand and not to remove it. He had no idea what was wrong. Then, I went to another doctor who diagnosed it as arthritis (I was 19) and then gave me electrical shock treaments to cure the problem. I gave up any notion of playing as a professional. HE WAS WRONG! Most likely my problem was what is now know as carpel tunnel.
Things that help me now: hand exercises, appropriate rest, and wrist braces.
My advice is to rest from playing for a period of time. If the problem persists, then see a doctor. Then, get a second oppinion.
Hope your pain is from too much playing.
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Kchui999
Date: 2006-07-06 02:49
Gotta go with C2thew on this one. If you're getting pain from playing, it is becuase of the position of your hand, and the thumbrest makes you put your hand in that position. I've been playing the kooiman etude for about 6 months, and it really does work, relieves all pain and discomfort i used to experience when playing for hours at a time...
...and they look incredibly slick.
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Cuisleannach
Date: 2006-07-06 13:59
One way to find a good doc is to find one who specializes in hand stuff and has access to or is affiliated with OT's (occupational therapists) who specialize in hand work, particularly entrapment syndromes. They'll be able to tell you what's going on. I learned a lot more from the OT's than I did from th docs when I had ulnar entrapment at the elbow. This entrapment had nothing to do with how I played but with how I slept. A few months with a brace on my arm during sleep (and NO surgery...get an immediate second opinion before even considering surgery...my ortho didn't ever consider hand surgery for musicians unless the problem was drastic) saw me through.
Again, it could be something as easy as hand position (which an OT would be able to tell you) but at least in my humble opinion my hands and my mouth are too important to leave to conjecture.
-Randy
|
|
|
|
|
Author: chito
Date: 2006-07-06 16:04
Hi i got the same promblem and my situation more terrible my 3rd and 4th fingers cant move and my thumb rest got pain. I did a lot of consultation rehabilitation and i search a lot and ask some advice from professional musician. I got this 1 year ago until now rehabilitating I thought im over practised and i got stress that only the reason . In my experienced a very important things to resolve this first you must need to change your practise routine i do a lot of strech or exersice before i practise next dont play to long you must need proper rest always and most specially you must learn how to play very slow , slow , slow and always concentrate feel how your muscle move and always looked your body position infont of the mirror while practising. Also i used new BG strap its helpul also my advise is concetrate other technique like sound or proper breathing etc . its also helpul while your finger is pain i did this for a year and i recover now sometimes its heart but i know how to control now.
Please visit Howard Klug Site theres some topic about finger techniques.
|
|
|
|
|
Author: punkinn
Date: 2006-07-06 16:13
Absolutely, with no questions or hesitations, see a doctor FIRST. (period, end of discussion)
Alternative thumbrests or supports (the Etude or FHRED) can and should be discussed with your doctor. A wrist brace may help, but that is up to your doc, too. I use an Etude, which I like and which helped for a while, but I also have borderline carpal tunnel and began having pain and numbness issues even with that after several weeks of use. My next thought is trying a FHRED.
I really can't put enough emphasis on consulting a physician... as you are obviously aware and as others have pointed out, your hands and their health are of great importance to any intent of a musical performance career (or anything else, for that matter!).
Good luck to you, let us know what happens and what steps you take to deal with this.
Best regards,
Nancy Revelle
Arroyo Grande, CA
|
|
|
|
|
Author: seafaris
Date: 2006-07-06 16:24
I had a similar problem. My thumb and wrist woud start to hurt after an hour of playing. A neck strap didn't help much and it was in the way.
I bought the etude thumbrest and now thumb and wrist pain are the least of my worries. It also made playing for me easier. The clarinet seems more secure, and my fingers are in the correct position all the time. If you buy one (they can be found discounted new in the low $20) and you don't like it sell it. They go very quickly on that auction site.
The only probelm I found was in humid conditions my thumb would slip, synthetic cork in the curved part of the rest solved that problem. My wife has more of a problem because her fingers are small. She liked the initial security of the rest, but her thumb would slide around. We are going to try to build up some mole skin on her thumb rest.
I don't discount the value of a doctors opinion, but if it is fatigue what is he going to say. Rest. After xrays etc. If he was knowlegable about the options and he did not find a serious problem he would probably say go for it.
If you lay off for a week and your wrist feels better, why not try the etude. If you still have pain see a doctor. The etude has more value than just easing wrist pain. They take about a week to get use to.
Jim
|
|
|
|
|
Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2006-07-06 16:42
See a doctor and/or a specialist. After you've got a professional opinion let me know and I'll re-open the thread.
The suggestions are great, but self-help should be after a professional examination. Life's too short to be wrong about a possible career-ending injury ...
|
|
|
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
