Striking the Right Chords: Hand Pain Prevention in Musicians
Hand pain prevention in musicians is key to a long, successful career!
If you want to understand the importance of hand pain prevention in musicians, consider Sam’s story. By the time he was 45, Sam had played guitar in dozens of bands. He’d performed in tiny, smoky clubs for three people and, during one memorable performance, in front of an enormous crowd in a big arena show. Because of his versatility and general hard work, he made his living as a musician.
But then the unthinkable happened. Sam started to experience pain and tingling in the fingers of his fretting hand. While he tried to shake it off at first, the discomfort lingered, eventually developing into a sense of swelling in his fingers–and then, to his dismay, weakness. Playing even simple melodies became challenging, and Sam worried he would have to hang up his guitar for good.
But then one of his bandmates–who’d gone through the same thing–suggested Sam visit a hand therapist. There, Sam learned he had developed carpal tunnel syndrome, a common condition among high-level musicians. The intricate finger movements necessary to shred on the guitar can also irritate the median nerve, leading to carpal tunnel syndrome.
Although surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome is a relatively simple procedure, Sam wanted to avoid it if possible–the rehabilitation time would keep him out of the studio and off the stage for longer than he’d prefer. Fortunately, dedicated hand therapy can often resolve carpal tunnel syndrome, as Sam eventually discovered.
If, like Sam, you’re a musician and haven’t thought about hand pain prevention, now’s the time! Hand and wrist pain is a common complaint among musicians of all sorts. The small, repetitive movements required to play everything from the guitar to the oboe can create various problems in the joints, muscles, and soft tissue of your hands.
At Libra Occupational Therapy, we love working with musicians in the texas community. Even if you’re not currently experiencing hand pain, our team can help you avoid a long (and potentially costly) rehabilitation period with a customized hand pain prevention program. And if you are experiencing pain, we’ll dig down to the root cause to help you find permanent relief.
To learn more about hand pain prevention for musicians, keep reading! Or call our friendly staff to set up an appointment.
Common Types of Hand Pain in Musicians
In most cases, your hand pain is likely some sort of overuse injury. These injuries occur due to several tiny microtraumas, which add up over time–as opposed to one major trauma that causes issues all at once. Because excelling at any instrument requires hours of practice, a devoted musician has a higher risk of developing those overuse injuries.
Furthermore, your hands are incredibly complicated, with many tiny bones, muscles, ligaments, and tendons. This tissue works together in remarkable ways so you can create stirring, powerful melodies on your instrument of choice–but it also means a lot can go wrong.
Sam experienced one of the more common injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome, which occurs due to the compression of the median nerve, which runs through the wrist and into the hands. But it’s by no means the only source of hand pain in musicians. In fact, most musicians’ hand pain is probably due to tendinitis.
Tendinitis is an inflammation of a tendon, the soft tissue that connects your muscles to your bones. Your hands have dozens of tendons each, although musicians are more likely to injure certain tendons over others.
While these injuries can usually be rehabilitated easily, musicians don’t necessarily want to spend weeks or months away from their instrument of choice! That’s why musicians should focus on hand pain prevention–so you can stop these injuries before they develop.
Musician Hand Pain Prevention: A Proactive Approach
At Libra Occupational Therapy, we can help you prevent hand and wrist pain before it occurs with a customized prevention plan. Avoiding typical overuse injuries can protect your musical career in the long run.
There are several simple tips you can use to help prevent hand pain. While we’ll customize your plan to your specific needs, here are a few of the strategies we might suggest:
Warm Up Your Hands: Many newer musicians don’t realize they need to warm up their wrists and hands before starting a practice session, as an athlete would. Even just noodling around on your instrument could stress your hands and wrists. Our therapists will show you specific exercises for your particular instrument.
Use Proper Posture: If you’re playing in more informal settings–like a rock and roll band–you may not think about the importance of playing with proper posture. But you do so at your own peril!
If you took any formal lessons, you almost certainly learned proper techniques for your instrument. Take some time to brush up on how to sit or stand, hold your instrument, and so forth. If you’ve never taken formal lessons (or even if you have), our therapists can provide plenty of tips.
Strengthen Your Hands and Wrists: Playing an instrument is more physical than we give it credit for. Our therapists can show you dedicated hand and wrist exercises that strengthen the muscles, tendons, and ligaments that can become injured. You may also benefit from strengthening your upper body more generally.
Take Breaks: Many musicians tend to get caught up in their instruments, even during practice sessions. Set a timer to ensure you don’t go too long without taking a break. During that time, try to get up and move around. As a bonus, you’ll likely feel fresher when you start your practice again!
No matter what instrument you play, our hand therapists can help you develop a good hand pain prevention strategy. And if you do start struggling with hand pain, we’ll create a customized treatment program to help you resolve it quickly.
Schedule an Appointment to Learn about Pain Prevention Today
Ready to rock and roll? Libra Occupational Therapy will help you avoid pain and injury as you work on your music. Request an initial appointment at our texas clinic today!