Subject: tendonitis hasn't stopped
Date: 1 Oct 96 19:47:37 GMT

hello all.
as some of you know, i'm suffering from what my doc vaguely called
tendonitis.  well, i'm not playing for more than five minutes (on
a crappy light kawai, mind you) without my veins in my forearms
bulging out, my knuckles in my fingers, at the base of my hand,
and wrists, screaming, my arms on fire, and my shoulders just one
big knot, all the way across, up my neck, and it's moving down,
too.  my lesson is on thursday and i get to play on his stiff
old bitch of a steinway.  one piece i'm working on is debussy's
the gate of wine, and i'm DYING.  he expects me to be much more
forte than i can be.  another taxing piece is chopin nocturne op 9
no 1 in bflat minor.  that middle section with all the octaves is
killing me.  i can't really work on it (so i concentrate on my
other pieces, which aren't so bad), so it sounds like crap, and
even when i try to play it, i physically can't.  i'm scared to
tell my prof -- i think he's going to think i just don't want to
work on these pieces (which isn't true), i think he's just going to
assume i'm being pretentious or i haven't been practicing, or
'working to my potential.'  my elbow is hurting and so are my
hands as i type.  my back always hurts.  i'm taking a intro to
conducting class and the prof there is always criticizing me because
i'm 'too stiff.' (in the arms and shoulders and wrists)  i told
him i have something like tendonitis.  i think he just suspects i'm
square.  anyways, i need a good doctor.  i'm in the middle of
michigan, but i'm willing to go anywhere around here, in pennsylvania,
ohio, indiana, or illinois.  if anyone knows a good doctor, please
let me know.

-julie

ps.  my bad hand doc has put me on lodine and told me to lift
soup cans with my wrists.  i haven't seen any improvements.

Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.piano
Subject: Re: tendonitis hasn't stopped
Date: Thu, 03 Oct 1996 11:42:41 -0700

		Well, obviously, something is wrong here, and I wonder if 
'tendonitis' is doctor talk for 'I don't know'.  I once deadened some 
nerve endings in my RH5 finger from bashing it against the keys too 
hard, and my doctor just wanted to know why I was pursuing such a 
demanding course of study when it didn't seem to be good for me. His 
advice was, essentially, "just don't do it".
  
  i'm scared to
> tell my prof -- i think he's going to think i just don't want to
> work on these pieces (which isn't true), i think he's just going to
> assume i'm being pretentious or i haven't been practicing, or
> 'working to my potential.'he expects me to be much more
> forte than i can be.

	Now we're getting somewhere.  Some people, like me, collect tension 
in their necks and shoulders, and the inner pressure of trying to 
please a demanding teacher could be causing you to seize up.  Accusing 
you of laziness or lack of talent is absolutely no help either.

> my back always hurts.

	Again, a good clue.  It is likely that you are not sitting at the 
correct height for your upper body and arms to be relaxed at the 
piano, probably too low.  Your shoulders and upper back are then 
forced to do the work of holding up your arms so that your hand can be 
in a good position to play, and the arms stiffen up to hold up the 
hands.  I suspect the problem comes from your back, rather than 
"tendonitis" in your hands.
 
>  anyways, i need a good doctor.  i'm in the middle of
> michigan, but i'm willing to go anywhere around here

 May I be so bold as to suggest that what you need is an Alexander 
technique teacher, who can evaluate how you are using your body when 
you play and give you better ways to be efficient, and a piano teacher 
that has studied either Dorothy Taubman's technical pedagogy or Haruko 
Kataoka's. (Mrs.Kataoka is on faculty of the Suzuki Institute in 
Japan, and has written two books on piano study and technique)  Both 
pedagogues have spent years investigating the most natural way to use 
your body to play the piano, and the most effective ways to make 
beautiful tone with ease.
	Since you are in Michigan, you are near several good Suzuki piano 
teachers who teach Kataoka's pedagogy, and I would be happy to make 
specific recommendations via e-mail if you are interested.
 
> ps.  my bad hand doc has put me on lodine and told me to lift
> soup cans with my wrists.  i haven't seen any improvements.

ps.  Ask him what soup cans have to do with playing the piano ;-)

Newsgroups: rec.music.makers.piano
Subject: Re: tendonitis hasn't stopped
Date: Sun, 13 Oct 1996 19:12:45 -0700


I've combatted "tendonitis" for several years, mainly from playing guitar but also from 
keyboard. I put it in quotes because in Western medicine "tendonitis" is a catch-all 
term for "something in there's inflamed", or in other words "I don't know what it is and 
I can't fix it"

I saw the best that Western medicine had to offer, including orthopedic surgeons and a 
highly regarded neurologist and a physical therapist, both of whom SPECIALIZE in 
musician's injuries. This PT was the head of the department at a highly regarded 
university and is considered an international authority! Though they tried, none of 
these people could give me any relief, but even as more than three years went by, I 
couldn't give up.

Doctors can do five things for tendonitis:

1) Prescribe anti-inflammatories
2) Put some sort of brace or splint on you
3) Cortisone injection
4) Surgery
5) Send you to a physical therapist

That's it. I tried all of these except surgery (thank God!) and none helped. In fact, 
only the anti-inflammatory (ibuprofen) didn't worsen the problem, which the other 
approaches did at least for a matter of days. The cortisone hurt for three weeks.

Skeptical, I went to a chiropractor on the recommendation of a percussionist. Not a 
specialist, just a normal, good chiropractor. They don't just work on backs, they adjust 
bones everywhere. And it helped.

Unlike a traditional Western doctor, this chiropractor was not dogmatic about his field. 
He encouraged me to try accupuncture and Chinese herbs, as well as massage.

For my particular problem, the chiropractic has definitely helped the most. I refer to 
both the adjustments he did (all over my body, not just the wrist) and the exercises he 
had me do (these mainly involved the arms).

He also put me on a program of very gradually building my guitar playing time, starting 
with five careful minutes, every other day. For months, I couldn't play at all. It was 
hell.

Massage has also helped, because in my case the wrist pain is preceded by tense, sore 
muscles in the arms. For years, I wasn't even AWARE that my arms were sore. Our brains 
are so funny.

I am still strengthening my wrist and have to be careful not to overplay, because 
setbacks tend to last at least five days, and the wrist never hurts right away, only 
later that day. Tricky, huh?

My advice would be that you have to become your best health care expert these days. With 
a problem such as "tendonitis", there are so many things this can mean that it is 
necessary to try many different approaches until you find what works for you. My 
personal experience is that, other than surgery (very risky for a musician) there is not 
much Western medicine has to offer for this kind of problem. I am not anti-doctor, in 
fact I've always only gone to doctors in the past, and I still would for a great many 
things.

Chiropractic helped me, and I would try it if you haven't already, but since every 
person and every problem is different, I can't claim that it's "the answer". I had to go 
for 6 months, sometimes twice a week and sometimes every three weeks, so don't expect an 
overnight cure. If something helps a little, you are probably on the right track, and 
maybe something else CONCURRENTLY would help even more.

For a musician who loves to play, this problem can be very depressing, and thoughts of 
never being able to play again can be devastating, I know. Don't waste your time with 
any health professional, Western or otherwise, who doesn't show a good attitude about 
your prognosis. Without making unrealistic promises, these people have to help you to 
keep an attitude of hope, perserverance and active involvement. No more "fix me up, 
Doc."

So, after four hard years, the best advice I can give is "don't give up". Few problems 
have no solution. It just might take some time and hard work, but it's worth it in 
spades.

Good luck,
Gabriel