Author: kdk ★2017
Date: 2019-07-15 05:56
I've labelled this as off-topic because it specifically concerns a problem I'm having with tenor sax, but it might well apply to others when they play clarinet.
A few months ago I began to notice some episodic pain at the base of my left thumb, especially after a week of playing tenor for a show. I went to a hand therapist, who diagnosed mild wrist arthritis and gave me over a half-dozen sessions some exercises to strengthen the supporting muscles. I didn't find very much benefit in the exercises, but the problem wasn't affecting my clarinet playing, although other actions with the thumb have occasionally continued to cause some slight aching pain.
Fast forward to tonight. I got the tenor out (for the first time in months) to play through the book for a show I'm playing in a week, although there are two pit rehearsals this week. Bad news. The clarinet isn't a problem - I play all the time and the thumb motions don't trigger pain. But playing the tenor, with its heavier key actions (including the octave key) and its palm keys, which need much more wrist movement than is needed on clarinet, was definitely inducing pain that will be hard to deal with over a week and a half of playing.
I suspect in the long run I'm going to have to see a hand orthopedist, perhaps for steroid injections (if they're considered useful for arthritis in the hand and wrist joints), but there's not much chance of my getting an appointment like that soon enough to help with the immediate problem - those appointments are usually made weeks in advance. I'm wondering if anyone here who has experienced similar problems has found anything topical to apply to the area or any way of bracing the wrist that doesn't interfere with the business of fingering the instrument.
Karl
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The Clarinet BBoard
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