Pain in Left Wrist

March 24, 2005 at 10:34 PM · I am resemitting a post that I enter two days ago that was either rejected or else lost in cyberspace. If the originally one pops up, sorry for the repeated post!

I formally switched to the viola near November last year and am currently playing on a comofortable 16 inch viola. Recent I have developed a pain in the left wrist - not continous, but just when I rotate my arm or when I trill on a piano keyboard. This pain appeared distinctly after I was practicing arpeggios, and I suppose it was those wretched high positions which requires the awkward position of the left hand that either initiate or triggered a build-up to an "injury".

By injury, I am still uncertain whether it's some sort of strain that would go away in a few days or really warning sighn of a serious musician type injury. Of course I'm aware that it's unwise to take medical advices from a music forum, but I am merely curious in comments and experience of those who had injuries as well as the symtoms they have experienced.

I apologise if my description if vague...I don't feel any numbness/pain/lack of mobility in the other parts of the arm (thankfully) but still this pain, although tolerable, is worrying me. I am asking, if you have ever experienced some form of injury (tendonitus, carpal tunnel symdrome etc...), what are some of the feelings that you first felt?

I sincerely appreciate any feedback or comment to my situation. Thank you.

Replies (4)

Stephen Brivati

March 25, 2005 at 01:38 AM · Greetings,

the problem of left arm rotation centers around which bone in the forarm (or whcih side ) is used as the axis when putitng the insturment up. The little finger side is the axis becaus eit is the strongets and the thumb side of the hand roates arouns the axis. If you put the ionstrument up by rotation with the little finger side leading then you will have all manner of probnlems This is one of the most common mistakes that string players make. If you can"t follow y explanation say so and i will go into it in more detail later,

Best of luck,

Buri

Nicky Wong

March 25, 2005 at 03:08 AM · Thanks Buri for your input! Yeah, I'm afraid for some of the parts I don't quite understand. Do you mean my left hand might be twisted too far towards the left/counter clockwise direction?

Rita Livs

March 25, 2005 at 03:26 AM · Nicky, I am so sorry for what you wrote... Try this: put your hands with wrists under hot water for about 10 minutes. It is good if you can find cream "Traumeel" (made in Germany). Ask in Nutrition stores, or somewhere online... So, after this bath, put this cream in place, where you feel discomfort and put fixing bandage around your wrist. You might get a good result just in several hours.

Hope it help.

Stephen Brivati

March 25, 2005 at 11:10 PM · Greetings,

Nicky, that isn"t what I meant, sorry. Sit at a table and place you left forearm and hand palm down in fron of you on the top. now leave the little finger and thta side of the hand arm, in contact with the table and turn your palm face up. IE the rotation is form the thumb sideand the little finger side is the axis. This is the correct way to put up the insturment. If you do the reverse rotating the little finger side and using the thumb side as axis yiou will set yourself uop for some bad problems,

Cheers,

Buri

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Pain in Left Wrist

Replies (4)

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