 The Clarinet BBoard
|
Author: clarinet_kid
Date: 2015-04-04 20:56
I've played clarinet for roughly 5 years and this year has become very clarinet-intense for me. Recently, I've stopped using my thumb rest and a small (maybe half-centimeter each side) bump has arisen on my right thumb. Now that I've begun using my thumb rest again (3 months later) the bump is slightly less inflamed. Will it go away in time or is there something else I should do about it?
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Philip Caron
Date: 2015-04-04 22:41
You stopped using the thumb rest? Huh? Did you have a neck strap instead? And not using the thumb rest caused a bump? It's hard to make sense of this.
Anyway, the pressure of the thumb rest has created a callus on my right thumb, a good sized bump. It can get sore, so occasionally I file it down some with emery board. I also use a rubber cushion over the thumb rest - they are available cheaply and seem to help. It's an easily manged problem.
One time at my job in the factory, a co-worker saw the bump on my thumb, and asked me what that "knob" was. I told him it was from playing the clarinet. He thought that was real funny, and asked another co-worker going by, "Hey, have you got a clarinet knob?" The other guy, an old-time Vermont farmer, replied "I dunno, might have one out in the barn."
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: maxopf
Date: 2015-04-04 23:35
I wonder if maybe the op means he/she stopped using a thumb rest cushion?
I do actually know a clarinetist who lost their actual thumb rest and didn't get it replaced for ages.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Lelia Loban ★2017
Date: 2015-04-05 23:16
After I graduated from high school, I quit the clarinet for nine years. The thumb bump got a bit smaller but never did disappear. Since my thumb never has become inflamed, I don't care about the bump.
A lot of instruments cause some sort of stigmata: witness the prominent fiddle bumps under violinists' chins.
Lelia
http://www.scoreexchange.com/profiles/Lelia_Loban
To hear the audio, click on the "Scorch Plug-In" box above the score.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: JennyP
Date: 2015-04-07 01:17
Do you mean that you stopped using the "thumbie," as in the rubber thumb cushion you can put on the thumb rest? (Please note that "thumbie" is not a technical term.)
Even if you use one, you'll probably develop a callus on your right thumb where the weight of the clarinet rests. After very intense rehearsals at festivals in high school, my clarinet friends and I used to compare our thumbs to see whose looked grosser.
Try not to pick or poke at it, and look around at other thumb pad rests to see if one may work better for you. I use a wide rubber one. It gives me a lot of stability and is a lot easier on my thumb than the metal thumb rest alone.
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
Author: Paul Aviles
Date: 2015-04-07 04:44
I don't know if you looked at the link provided above but the Protec "thumbie" is made of that gel stuff that is so popular for sneakers and computer wrist rests these days. It is SOOOOO much better than anything else any of you have tried (I guarantee it !!!!).
.............Paul Aviles
|
|
Reply To Message
|
|
The Clarinet Pages
|
 |
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
