I'm a Flute player...and my wrist is starting to hurt...Advice?

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>Hi. I'm a flute player and the past week, my left wrist has started to ache to the point where yesterday, when I was practicing one specific measure repeatedly, I was forced to stop playing. (for those of you who have played Prokofiev: it's THAT part in the fourth movement. Grrr)</p>

<p>I was wondering if people could give me advice(?) on how to prevent this from aggravating. Should I wear a wrist band or something like that? Oh, and if any of you flute players know what may be causing the pain let me know! I have a big competiton coming up in August at the NFA and I want to make sure I'm in top form. </p>

<p>Thanks! Much appreciated :D</p>

2

<p>maybe you're practicing too much? lol</p>

3

<p>My daughter's teacher told her to take frequent breaks. My daughter likes the 15/5 rule. Play for 15 rest (read) for 5. Of course you can only do that when practicing alone but she says it helps.</p>

4

<p>Check your hand position (and tell your teacher about the problem). Also, a wrist brace and/or putting ice on the sore area may help. It might be a good idea to consult a doctor who is used to treating musicians' problems in case you're getting tendonitis or something. Be careful with this; I have a friend who ignored some arm and wrist pain she was feeling while she was at a music camp a few years ago and ended up ripping muscles and tendons. She's fine now, but for quite a few months, she wasn't allowed to practice more than a certain number of minutes a day. She still gets pain in her arm sometimes. That probably won't happen to you, but just... be careful.</p>

5

<p>Are you doing anything differently with hand positions other than the norm? Played tennis, spent a little too much time on the 'puter typing? Sleep badly?</p>

<p>The key is to try and isolate what is causing pain where none existed previously. Do you have warm-up exercises and do you do them?</p>

<p>The 15/5 rule is excellent advice, as is talking to your instructor. Repetitive motion injuries can end/downgrade a musician's career; it's important to develop good habits and awareness early on. There are many excellent on-line sources and numerous books addressing musician's health issues.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

6

<p>Is your flute in-line or offset?</p>

<p>I have a sibling flute player who was told that she should replace her in-line G flute with a flute with an off-set G to avoid the repetitive injuries she was suffering. I believe this refers to the left hand key alignment of the instrument.</p>

<p>Other than that, the advice given above, rest and ice, is standard and well advised. And- my sympathy! - tendonitis is not uncommon in the music world on any number of instruments. The key is prevention - which often means moderation.</p>

7

<p>Oh hahah...um well, viola dad, let's see:
1. I've been practicing 1 hour in the morning, 2 hours in the afternoon and 1 more hour in the evening. I've tried to space the practice time out, but I guess I need to rest more? Normally (during the school year), I just practice about 1.5-2 hours a day.. :(</p>

<ol>
<li><p>I've been playing tennis a lot these days...gotta train during the summer when I can, heh.</p></li>
<li><p>You know those things called "college applications"? They don't mix well with paranoid Asian parents. I've been typing a lot on the computer lately, cranking out those essays.</p></li>
<li><p>I do warm ups and tone exercises a lot, but I don't think I've been doing anything different with my hands..</p></li>
</ol>

<p>CONCLUSION: So, I'm guessing it's just the sudden burst of practice? For the wrist brace, should I put it on all the time including when I practice or is that just for when I'm not playing?</p>

<p>Ahhh. This is so frustrating D: I feel like such a pathetic weakling because other people have been doing this sorta schedule for YEARS, studying at arts schools and going to camp and such.. sniff. But thanks for all the input! :)</p>

8

<p>You've basically doubled your practice time from two to four hours daily. If this wasn't a gradual build-up, it may well be a cause. As well could the other activities. '</p>

<p>You might want to back off some activity, or cut your practice time the days you play tennis. Seek the advice of your teacher, and medical help if required.</p>

<p>I don't have the knowledge to advise you on the use of a brace.</p>

9

<p>Check with your teacher to make sure your posture and hand position are correct while practicing. Practice in front of a mirror and check yourself frequently to make sure you are not lapsing into a poor hand position or posture as you tire from repeated practice on difficult sections. Make sure to warm up fully with exercises like long tones before starting in on the hard stuff. If it starts to hurt, stop immediately and rest. Do not attempt to play through pain.</p>

10

<p>Mihan, upping your practice time too rapidly could cause a problem. Like an athlete, you need to build up gradually. Also try some wrist and finger stretching before you start to play. I'll pm you my daughter's email if you want to contact her...she may have some suggestions.</p>

11

<p>Find a good Alexander Technique teacher. She or he should be able to help you immensely.</p>

12

<p>If it's at all possible, you should make an effort to consult with a sports-medicine doctor and possibly a physical therapist to help with some exercises and strengthening. DD had similar issues when she combined increase oboe practice with increased (summer-time) tennis. Her pediatrician recommended a great doctor who specializes in adolescent /pediatric sports injuries (yup, playing the oboe or flute can also be a sport!), and he was able to help her figure out an appropriate balance of treatment, exercise, rest/ice, wrist brace, etc. I just wouldn't recommend self-treating, even with a wrist brace, without getting a better diagnosis. Good luck!</p>

13

<p>There is an occupational therapist in NYC who specializes in musician's hand issues (doubtless there are others, too). She has the musician bring the instrument and play for her, diagnoses positional issues, alignment, etc., prescribes braces, exercises, regimens. Where do you live? Someone here should be able to refer you.</p>

14

<p>My S had a problem with pain in his right wrist while playing bassoon a few years ago. His also started because he suddenly increased his practice time and technical work. He went to a physical therapist and brought his instrument. The physical therapist specialized in hand and wrist problems. The therapist understood that my S couldn't stop playing altogether for a while, but that was what he said would work the fastest. Besides exercises and a brace, he also did some special things (electric stim, ultrasound, etc.) to bring down the inflammation. Now that wrist is great and strong, but he occasionally has pain in the other unstrengthened wrist. One of the most important things that he told my S was that he needed to keep up his intensive practice periods (some variation is OK for short periods) or he would have to work up to it very slowly again. I strongly recommend going to a physical therapist and bring your instrument with you. It worked out great for us.</p>

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<p>Hiya love, I know what your going through. I have been experiencing the same problems now for about 5 years +. I have been doing neverending research on what the problem could be. Now over the 5 years i have unfortunatly had 3 Car accidents.</p>

<p>Now the 3rd accident happend about 2-3 months ago. We have had Physiotheapy! This hasnt helped. He’s telled me to mobalise my arms/wrists. But all this has done is made it worse. The pains i get are like Arthitis pains in my thumbs especially, at the joints. Cracking and seizing up in the middle of the hand and shoots to the wrist causing me to crack them back into place… if that makes sence?..Also I have digital problems. My arms itself can get very weak from time to time and feel very weird. </p>

<p>The arthritis pains can get very painfull! I massage them and eventually the pain wears off.
as a result of these 3 accidents i have had, each one On the force of the impact ( car hitting the object) i have stroke my arms out as a deffence mechanism. This over a period of time has weakend my arms/wrists and have agrivated the strain and gives me a really bad pain to cope with. </p>

<p>I have been playing the Flute for 10-11 years now. What ive come to term with is We have Tendernitis!! Which is a swelling of the tendens in our arms or shoulders or both. What we can do to ease the symptoms is to take it easy when … been on the computer or Playing out flute. What we are doing to aggrivate these symptoms are using our tendens and digits too much for them to handle and they are seizing up! Unfotunatly if your like me and love playing the flute… You will just cope with the pain.</p>

<p>Hoped i helped! :slight_smile: let me know how you get on :slight_smile: xx</p>

16

<p>What’s your age, how long have you been playing and how much texting do you do ?</p>

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<p>I would NOT recommend playing through bad pain, as it will only make the situation worse. Musicians are prone to all kinds of overuse injuries, or those caused by poor posture or positioning. Some can be so damaging as to prevent the person from being able to continue, due to risk of more serious injury. Many music schools have coursework in protection of musician health (including exercises, relaxation, yoga, etc as well as potential injuries and treatments) because it is so important to musicians’ futures. Warming up properly is crucial, as is posture, positioning, etc. </p>

<p>There are also certain kinds of splints that people wear to protect fingers or wrists. When my son’s wrists started to bother him in high school (definitely from overuse), he slept in wrist splints for months. Work on new technique, which includes much more finger and less stiffness and wrist movement, has reduced his wrist problems almost entirely. It takes a good doctor or teacher, or both, to assess what is causing the pain, and then how to alleviate it, before it is more permanently damaging. But playing through it not a great plan, IMO! </p>

<p>Good luck!</p>

18

<p>Sounds like some sort of repetitive motion issue. Given all the tennis playing, writing on the computer and any texting and such, it is not surprising you may be experiencing pain, on top of increasing your practicing like that. A girl my son knows was madly practicing this past year/fall because she had college auditions, she ramped up her practice time some ridiculous amount, and ended up with tendonitis. </p>

<p>I think what other people have suggested are all wonderful ideas, especially about not ignoring the pain, it is telling you something. The Alexander technique training is more then worth it in my experience, and resting during practicing is great, and of course talking to the teacher about setup is always wise. </p>

<p>I think you also need to realize that it is telling you something, that you can’t have it all, you can’t practice the flute like mad, do daily heavy workouts on tennis and spend significant time on the computer and expect there not to be any kind of result, there is a price to be paid. </p>

<p>My suggestion might be to try and balance things out. On days when you have done tennis, take it easy with practicing the flute (and maybe on days when you want to practice the flute longer, cut back on the tennis). Likewise, maybe take a day to do your college essays and on that day rest from the flute and tennis. I also suggest taking a look at the way you use the computer, make sure you are sitting properly, and get a wrist rest for the keyboard, it really helps cut down on repetitive stress. </p>

<p>Yeah, I hear all about these wonder kids, who practice their instrument 4 hours a day, do sports 4 hours a day, do homework 4 hours a day, go to school and in the 5 minutes left eat and sleep…there are kids like that, but IMO many of them end up just like us mere mortals, hurting and tired and burned out, or they end up realizing they can’t have it all. Most kids like that in my experience (and it is only that, YMMV) end up doing one or the other thing, I don’t know of too many virtuostic musicians who are world class tennis players and also win the Nobel prize in physics. I would suggest it is a matter of priorities, if you think you may seriously want to practice tennis, then focus on the training and back down a bit with the flute; if you think you may seriously want to go into the flute, then make that more of a priority and scale back the tennis a bit. Yeah,I understand parental pressure, they (we) often seem to forget there are such things as limits, but the reality is we are human, can only do so much, and need to focus on what we can do:)</p>

19

<p>Stop the tennis, stop the computer stuff, stop texting, and decrease practice (before practicing, put your arm/wrist in warm water and stretch it some, after practice, ice) until you can get to an MD. Use Ben Gay or Traumeel on the tendon. </p>

<p>An MD will write an RX for physical/occupational therapy. Go to the MD armed with names of PT/OT’s w/in driving distance for you, who specialize in musicians. This makes a big difference. If you PM me, I can give you names for the Boston area.</p>

<p>The PT can custom-make a splint for you, and will give you exercises. On site, they can do ultrasound, massage, electrical stimulation, whirlpool etc.</p>

<p>You can go through music in your mind without actually playing. Some musicians, in the midst of this type of thing, still go to rehearsals, classes or lessons, but don’t use their wrist!</p>

<p>If this proves to be a serious problem, you might want to consider not doing the August competition in favor of longer-term goals. </p>

<p>In the future, build up your practice slowly, and at the slightest twinge, go back to the warm soak/stretch, practice, then ice, as well as a splint as needed. Avoid overuse of the wrist in other areas of your life, if possible.</p>

<p>I have read that for whatever time you do not play or practice, it takes double that to get back to where you were. I have also been told that even playing 10-15 minutes/day is helpful for maintaining where you are and minimizing losses.</p>

<p>I have kids who are a dancer, a computer programmer and a musician. We’ve been through this in a variety of ways. This beginning tendonitis of yours may clear up very quickly, and may be just fine for August, but learning to pay attention (which you are doing) to these early signs is extremely important for your future.</p>

20

<p>This could be repetitive stress syndrome or even carpal tunnel syndrome. Both of these need to be taken very seriously. I agree that you need to rest the wrist as much as possible while you figure out the cause - probably posture/positioning. If you continue to stress the wrist, the inflammation can cause long term problems. If it hurts to practice, you may not be able to reach the level of playing that you might otherwise. See an expert to evaluate the position of the wrist, stop playing tennis, stop typing and rest as much as possible.</p>