Hey there, just registered with this forum to see if any of you can help me. I seem to be having really back pain whenever i practice my piano. The first 20 mins is usually ok but after that i start getting a really bad pain in my lower back and shoulders which makes it very hard to concentrate on what im doing. Does anyone else suffer from this?, if so what do you suggest as a possible cure? Ive read on the forum about piano and stool height but just wanted to see if theres anything else i could do.

Many thanks and great forum, very impressed

There's been a thread in the General Music forum recently about Repetitive Strain Injury and general health problems in instrument playing. I'd put a link in but not sure how to do it.

Hi there,

I had to give up full time piano playing because of my back injury (sustained as a teenager), no real loss to society, I was never that brilliant and can still batter out a rough accompaniment for pupils. I'd recommend a back support when practicing just to hold up the muscles correctly and it should help delay the fatigue and perhaps look into sports massage to help relieve the tension (affecting concentration) and could be a way of finding out if there are any other factors at work. I suffer terribly from tension and have found massages a great way of reducing the stress on my body. Pity they cost so much!

I keep getting pain in the back of my shoulders when i play too long.

When you play for too long, your back will start hurting. All you need to do is relax and stop playing for a while. It'll be fine the next day or even a few hours later. It use to hurt when I played for about half an hour. Now I play until the neighbors or my mum shouts at me to stop. I think it's just that your body isn't use to it.

I've been going to Alexander Technique for quite a few weeks and although my arms are getting better very slowly, the effect on my back has been astounding. Rather than anything done in the lesson, the real difference has come from practising what's called the "semi-supine position" for 20 minutes each day.

Here a couple of websites which explain it:

Semi-supine1

Semi-supine2 (note that despite what the picture shows, your hands should rest on your stomach to help your shoulders relax)

A lot of my back muscles which were 'permanently' tensed up have loosened amazingly, meaning I've gained a lot more freedom of movement in my upper body and have no more pain. It's also straightening my spine out, which helps me to sit up straight. According to my Alexander teacher, there was no way I could physically have been able to adopt the correct posture a month ago because my spine was curved in the wrong way.

I was a bit sceptical at first, but the difference it made within a week was simply amazing and I totally recommend to anyone who has back or shoulder pain to do this. It's very relaxing too and helps me de-stress and clear my mind before I go to bed.


Also, see if you can get hold of a posture wedge to sit on when you play piano. I've tried out someone else's and they really make it impossible to slouch! Another good thing to do is to make sure you get up every 10-15 minutes when you practise and have a walk round. Do a few stretches to loosen up your back and shoulders. This will help prevent hurting your back from sitting in a static position for too long. Here are some yoga stretches I've found on the internet and are very helpful:

Yoga stretches

Sorry this post has been so long - hopefully this will be helpful in some way...

Hope you get better!

Rosie

I did some Alexander a few years ago. The semi-supine described in Rosie's link works wonders. I still use it today.

Steve