Author: DougR
Date: 2021-08-23 17:40
first, my thanks to everyone who's contributed to this thread. A year ago I had surgery to correct RH thumb carpometacarpal arthritis, and have been through the mill since then in terms of exercises and adaptive thumb rests. (Did not know about Steve Fox's work, so thanks SecondTry!)
I have the Ridenour thumb saddle, the plastic Kooiman thumb rest, an adjustable thumb rest from Votaw; plus a Buffet adjustable thumb rest on order.
I personally prefer a neck strap (endorsed by my surgeon & hand therapist, by the way, as a way of taking weight off the thumb), so Linda S, that is where I'd start--with a neck strap. My setup is a leather piece (kindly made for me by a student of Jon Manasse's, that is exactly like what he's used in the past) that slips over the conventional thumb rest; the leather piece has a hole at the upper end that accommodates most neck strap hooks; I am DEFINITELY going to order Steve Fox's neck strap extension & see if it works better.
thanks also SunnyDaze--I wish the website had a better picture of the device. Looks promising, though!
The Ridenour thumb rest, unfortunately, doesn't have a secure attachment point for a neck strap, nor does the Kooiman, so that rules them out for me at this point.
One question is, what causes the thumb/wrist pain--the weight of the instrument, or the way we hold our hands to play it? Karl, it sounds like you're trying to work with some sort of splint the ortho made? I am, and while it braces my hand in an orthopedically "correct" position, it's klunky as hell, but my ortho has been willing to tinker with it...but my issues are with my right hand, so that's no help to you, sorry to say. The guy I study with (active Broadway pit doubler) has had a lot of success with Hoshino therapy to deal with trigger finger, and I'm considering it for my issues too. (I haven't had luck with cortisone injections for trigger finger but I do a Hoshino exercise he showed me and that seems to ameliorate it.)
I opted for the surgery originally due to thumb pain when operating the RH levers on a low-c bass clarinet. Post-surgery I have practically no pain doing that (yay) but some fairly intrusive pain playing the other instruments (which I didn't have before) which with time and continued hand exercises, MAY go away. The aftereffects of surgery are just plain unpredictable so I'd advise trying everything ELSE first!
(One considerable benefit of visits to the OT is a suite of exercises that have strengthened BOTH my hands and have made playing generally easier, so there's that.)
So my number one suggestion for persistent hand pain would be to consult with an orthopedist who treats musicians, get a definitive diagnosis so you know specifically what's wrong, and go from there.
Best wishes and best of luck, everybody!!
Post Edited (2021-08-23 17:49)
|
|
The Clarinet BBoard
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
.jpg){kind=small}
