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So, I've been really working on improving my bow stroke length and trying to cure the bounce. Well, I guess I was practicing a little too enthusiastically. Now I've got tendonitis in my bowing wrist. Ouch!
I started getting sharp pain in it about a week ago. Went to the doctor the other day; he recommended wearing a brace and taking an anti-inflammatory, and...(gulp) laying off practicing the violin so much for a while.
The good news is that it should go away with a few weeks of resting it. If not, I'll go see a hand specialist.
Has this ever happened to anyone else? If so, how'd you resolve it?
When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,
I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.
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I've heard of this for other violinists as well. Please try to practice with the wrist brace when your hand gets better. IOW, don't play without it for a while. You see, I would prefer for you to be flexible with your fingers than your wrist and this could actually help. Do the finger oversizes as often as possible, as they do not stress any part of your wrist.
"The richest person is not the one who has the most,
but the one who needs the least."
First of all I would listen to your doctor and what she or he tells you. I have had tendinitis in my wrist and what helped for me was a shot of cortisone in the wrist. A few hours later and the pain was gone.
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Thanks for the advice, Pierre. My doctor suggested practicing with the brace on but I pooh-poohed it, telling him that bowing required a lot of wrist flexion. I'll give it a try (but will take it easy)!
Thanks, too, Kevin. I hope it doesn't come to needing a cortisone shot. I had one for a foot problem once and it didn't work for me. The very next day the pain was back.
When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,
I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.
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Could have been worse. I've known a few musicians that have ended up with carpal tunnel syndrome. I haven't had tendonitis in wrists or hands, but my wife has from doing a bit too much spinning with hand spindle when she first got one. I've had it in parts of the legs and ankle back when I was a teen from overtraining with weights.
Unfortunately, playing musical instruments is a risk for those things. If we overdo a bit too much or push it too hard for a few days, any musician can run into some troubles.
Do you do any sort of stretching exercises with your wrists and hands regularly? Do you warm up your hands and wrists before you play? I think those can help to avoid tendonitis and carpal tunnel syndrome, but right now you'll have to just take it a bit easy and reduce practice until you recover.
On the possible bright side, you are a multi-instrumentalist, so you can spend some of the time on your other instruments. Just don't go *too* crazy on them. LOL
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman
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Musical minds think alike Daniel. I've been playing my guitar more over the past week. But just slowish songs that don't require much wrist action. 
When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,
I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.
Diane, do you think it may be that your wrist isn't relaxed enough when you play that could have caused it ?
As far a cortisone shot's go, a therapist once told me that a shot of cortisone will take away the pain but still leave's the initial problem. He said that's what they do with pro athlete's when they have an injury, give them shot's of cortisone to ease the pain along with thearpy. The thing that caused the damage is still there and can result in a long term injury.
I had torn ligament's between my rib's one time, I was off work for a few day's, went to the doctor who gave me a cortisone shot between the rib's, the pain went away, I could breath with ease again. With rib's, there are no moving part's so the cortisone worked until they healed in a couple week's.
I think a wrist brace may hinder the flexability in your wrist that you need.
Just a thought, I would refrain from too much practice, myself.
Good luck with it. 
Regulars
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KindaScratchy said
So, I've been really working on improving my bow stroke length and trying to cure the bounce. Well, I guess I was practicing a little too enthusiastically. Now I've got tendonitis in my bowing wrist. Ouch!I started getting sharp pain in it about a week ago. Went to the doctor the other day; he recommended wearing a brace and taking an anti-inflammatory, and...(gulp) laying off practicing the violin so much for a while.
The good news is that it should go away with a few weeks of resting it. If not, I'll go see a hand specialist.
Has this ever happened to anyone else? If so, how'd you resolve it?
Good Lord youre falling apart! Might I recommend a slower practicing pace once youve recovered. Try focusing on getting the mechanics right before speeding up. Sometimes you can do a whole week at a rediculously slow pace just to really get used to the range of motion. Im no physical therapist, but I did sleep in a holiday inn express last night- good luck Pfish.
"Please play some wrong notes, so that we know that you are human" - said to Jascha Heifetz.
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Oh, and since nobody else here has mentioned it..
It is when you first start to notice some tenderness or numbness that you should stop and take it a bit easier for a few days, do some light stretches and maybe take some over-the-counter anti-inflammatory medicine.
That way you may be better in a day or two instead of having to play real careful for weeks.
Also if you can break up practice/playing time through the course of the day, it gives time for recovery. Doing 2 hrs (or more) of practice all at once can put as much strain on the body as some sports. Have to work up to it.
I imagine you've probably already figured most of that out, though.
"This young wine may have a lot of tannins now, but in 5 or 10 years it is going to be spectacular, despite the fact that right now it tastes like crude oil. You know this is how it is supposed to taste at this stage of development." ~ Itzhak Perlman
I have wrists (and another parts of arm ...and other body parts) problems.
On both hands. Not violin related.
Another hobby - acrobatics. So we never start to do any hands-required elements without wrists warm-ups!!! But still sometimes it apparently isn't enough, and i'm getting some problems - so i play with braces qiute often.
It's not a problem to find one with required tension and softness that will support your wrists comfortably. I would recommend that when You'll get rid of the pain - to start your practice with wrist warm-up exercises. It will prevent many occasional damages in future!
You're not alone, KindaScratcy! Cheer up!
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Thanks for the encouragement, Naska! Sorry to hear that you've got wrist problems, too. I'll look into braces that maybe I can use in the long term because, at 50 years old, this could easily turn out to be a recurring problem.
When the work's all done and the sun's settin' low,
I pull out my fiddle and I rosin up the bow.
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