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I hurt my left hand (fingering hand) a couple of weeks ago. It's limiting my already limited flexibility by quite a lot and now my left wrist and forearm are starting to ache while playing.
I just ordered a sidemount chin rest to try and rotate the body of the violin to present the fingerboard to my hand so I don't have to twist my arm so much. Any other tips, hints, tricks I can employ to help prevent making this worse? Other than not play that is; I'm already limiting my playing to no more than 1/2 hour per day and taking short breaks during practice too.
My hand is healing but it's slow.
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Relax while playing, its the hardest thing to do with violin, but affects everything, pain, aches, sound you name it. Once you can relax pain will go away, others will tell you differently, and may think differently, but if you watch great violinists in any style, they all share the same thing, completely relaxed. If you dont believe me up to you.
People struggle with chin rests, shoulder rests and everything else but the problem comes from within themselves, unless they have something like arthritis of course, and even then it is easier if you relax, easier said than done.
Next time you play feel how much tension is in your shoulders back and body, you will be surprised, its like vibrato, really difficult technique, but you will get nowhere unless you can completely relax your arm and hand.
My thoughts others may think differently. And I could be wrong.
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stringy said
Relax while playing, its the hardest thing to do with violin, but affects everything, pain, aches, sound you name it. Once you can relax pain will go away, others will tell you differently, and may think differently, but if you watch great violinists in any style, they all share the same thing, completely relaxed. If you dont believe me up to you.People struggle with chin rests, shoulder rests and everything else but the problem comes from within themselves, unless they have something like arthritis of course, and even then it is easier if you relax, easier said than done.
Next time you play feel how much tension is in your shoulders back and body, you will be surprised, its like vibrato, really difficult technique, but you will get nowhere unless you can completely relax your arm and hand.
My thoughts others may think differently. And I could be wrong.
I try to relax but I'm still too new at this to do it for long. I find myself tensing up and that causes me to squeeze too hard and that slows my fingering down too.
For what it's worth, I crushed my hand when I dropped a 10lb car alternator on it accidentally. My tendons and ligaments didn't like that very much. I suspect the bones didn't either but the doctor says nothing broken. Just a lot of swelling and inflamed soft tissues/ligaments/tendons.
I know, I know, next time let the mechanic fix the car...
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Just don't overdo it. Taking a little more time off now and do some simple low strain stretching, stretch exercises, will save having to take a lot of doctor's ordered time off later.
I am not a doctor, so take this with a grain of salt, but maybe a little heating or warming before playing to loosen up the tendons. That is what they did to me to loosen the backside if my knee to help me straighten my leg to the PT bed in PT, BUT, my issue was not the same, and it was PT insteucted. I am not saying hot, I just use a little heat to warm my ligaments and tendons, before and after.
Maybe ask the doc if it is better to heat before doing it and heat after, ice before and after, heat before - ice after, ice before - heat after?
For me, again, different issue, I heat (warm) before doing a lot of things using my knee. But, that is a carry-over from me doing PT for my issue.
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The worst part is that right now the Suzuki lessons are all about short quick bow strokes and lightening fast fingering. Allegro, Perpetual Motion, Allegretto... fast, faster, and fastest.
My learning/playing Inisheer is coming along though. I actually got all the way through yesterday without a mistake (although I did add unscored pauses in a few places to straighten my left hand fingers). Hopefully I'll have a critique video in a couple of weeks if I can find an outside location to play it. I have one in mind but the weather is also a factor. Right now it's too windy with seasonal wind storms but I want to do this piece with a backdrop of nature instead of the interior walls of my house. Hopefully it works out.
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@RDP sorry to hear about the hand and hope it gets better soon. If youre still hurting the only thing i can add is that if you start adjusting your technique now to compensate it may form a muscle memory that is a problem later. maybe something to consider. i for sure not in any way able to offer medical advice..barely able to throw any in on playing but thats just a thought i had about your situation.
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Good point, ABitRusty.
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The new chin rest I ordered is taller than the one that came with my violin. I already have my chinrest offset even though it's a center mount type because I can't rotate my arm enough to get my 4th finger on the strings with it where it's supposed to be. So I have to rotate the violin to where I can get to it.
The new sidemount chin rest should be more comfortable and I can move it a tad further around the bout to help my wrist soreness. I'm still trying to find an optimum tilt to the violin body and every change means I'm cross-stringing for a little while until I get used to the new position.
I'm also taking a few days off from playing to help with the healing. When I start playing again I'll limit my time even more than I have already so I don't re-injure myself.
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My left hand/ thumb has been killing me since I stepped up on a more regular practice schedule. Thanks @stringy, I'll have to play attention
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I took most of the week off from playing. I still have some tendonitis going on in my index finger and back of my hand but my wrist is mostly better.
Played yesterday and really focused on keeping my thumb relaxed. I don't know if it was that or the time off but my playing was better overall. Smoother and I was able to get my elbow underneath without forcing it and making my shoulder joint hurt.
Maybe the break was good for me, I don't know.
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