Has anyone had this problem? What is it caused by, and what can I do to make it heal. I'm supposed to have an exam next week and really need to practise, but everytime I do my wrist is throbing afterwards.
I've never hard this problem before, can anyone give me some info on it?
Thanks Alot PSL

Oh dear, maybe you have overworked your hands and wrists. Do they still hurt when you rest them?
If they still hurt badly even when you are resting them, I think you should go straight to a doctor.

Or maybe you just over-stretched due to anxiety? Like aching muscles after climbing many flights of stairs, which don't ache as long as you don't move them? If that is the case, your hands will feel much better if you rest them for a couple of days. Wear wrist guards if possible to prevent further injury.

I personally massage my arms when I have such aches, and put my hands in warm baths. When it is really bad, I use Salonpas (medicated patches) to relief the pain quickly so that I can function at work and at the piano.

But really, you should rest. Without rest, you cannot heal. I know it is really difficult, especially when your exam is so near. Maybe you want to stop playing for one day, and just work on aural? That would still be time well spent, don't you think? Then you can evaluate the seriousness of your condition.

## Fingers crossed for piano*singing*lover ##

i had a problem in the tendon at the base of my thumb downwards toward the elbow. Turned out to be tendonitis. I f i t is something like that, nurofen every 4 hours should help. Mine felt much better after a week.
x

Usually the cause is one of two things - or a combination of the two.

An incorrect movement that causes damage
A sudden increase in the amount of practice

Sometimes the increased practice in itself is not the problem. Rather you are doing something wrong, but at lower levels of practice it does not cause any problems.

The solution is usually:

1. Rest
2. Identify and fix the technical problem (if any)
3. Build up to higher levels of practice gradually

Of course it is difficult to do 1. when there are exams or performances looming - but only you can weight the risk of longer term damage against immediate demands.

Finally - with any problem like this you should always consult your doctor, in case there is some more serious underlying problem.

Cheers

Hi - I had a similar problem and, although it hurt while I was playing the piano, it seemed to be caused more by holding the mouse on the computer. Once I stopped (or rather cut down) my mouse use (!) the piano playing was less painful too. Don't know if that is relevant to you but I hope it helps!

Yes - this has been mentioned in other posts. The computer mouse is an ergonomic disaster and can damage you entire arm from shoulder through wrist to fingers.

Of course the real cause of the problem might be unrelated to piano playing/practice.

Don't want to be negative here but if it's tendons, get it seen soon.....I badly damaged the tendon in the base of my thumb/across my wrist bone (the extensor pollicis longis?) and it took from the beginning of April until the beginning of September to heal - in the end it didn't heal by itself - I had to go to the hospital and get a steroid injection to help. The problem was that I was continually having to use it, and the swelling of the tendon within the sheath just kept aggravating the inflammation, and never gave it a chance to settle down.

Thanks for the replies everyone, really helpful
My music tutor has prosponed my exam for a week because they don't want me to use it without it healed, my own piano tutor thinks I have inflamation of the tendons in my wrist, it's not where the thumb is, more leading down to my 4th finger and pinkie. If I practise though I do find it has a dull ache afterwords, or tends to throbe. Even at my work today putting keys in and out of cabinets, it was starting to throb.
I am defo going to try and rest it, as I have an extra week now, and plus I don't want to make the situation more worse.
I have started with a new teacher who is brillaint and who has been doing loads of technical exercises which I've never done before and I have been increasing the practise, so maybe just strained it with the increase.

Anyway thanks for all the lovely replies...PSL

In general terms rest & correct the cause is always the counsel of perfection, but a little help along the way may help, with steroid injections etc. Along similar lines non-steroidal anti-inflammatory analgesic drugs (or NSAID's for those that prefer the better-known acronym) can do wonders for the pain of inflammation especially in joints tendons and ligaments.

The only problem is that pain has a reason - it's telling you to stop. If you use the painkillers and anti-inflammatories to mask the pain in order to enable you to not stop, you are increasing the chances of further damage enormously.

With an exam coming it may be too late to correct the cause and it may seem impossible to rest. I would ask yourself just how much you need this exam - can you afford to postpone it until next session and correct the problem first?

Hmm... maybe I shouldn't spend so much time on the forums...

sorry to hear that
i never had this, maybe you just overdid practising
i think you should go to a doctor if rest couldnt work

good luck for the exam

m_b_r

It's just a prelim thank god! It can be prosponed till anytime my hand heals, as that's the most important thing. So I'm going to rest it for a while lol
Thanks for all the replies everyone, I appreciate it! PSL