owen bell

I am a self taught fiddler and have been playing since 1979. Although not a professional, I play every day for at least an hour. However, I was recently diagnosed with tenosynovitis in my left hand and although there is no proof that my fiddling is the cause, I can't come up with any other explanation and neither can my doctor. This has been ongoing for almost 12 months now and although I can still play, it obviously isn't helping to fix this problem. In order to do this, I now have my hand in a splint to immobilise it completely for 6 weeks. This, in addition to taking anti-inflammatories, will hopefully clear this up. Of course, from now on, I will have to be very careful when it comes to the duration of my daily playing sessions, which sometimes can run into several hours, otherwise the condition may return. While the prospect of not being able to play at all for 6 weeks is awful to contemplate, damaging my hand permanently is something I don't even want to think about at all.. So, I would be very interested to hear from any other fiddlers (violinists, viola players, cello players etc) who have had this same problem and how they dealt with (or are dealing with it).I have been offered cortizone injections, but am reluctant to do this as there can be many unpleasant side effects and there is no guarantee they will even work. Rest, it would seem, is the best and safest option, but I would welcome any other suggestions.

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