First of all, hello to the viva organ community. I've been reading this forums for months now, but my registration for an account has always been bounced back for some unknown reason. Now that I have my account verified I can finally post things.

Allow me to indulge in a paragraph of boastful personal history on the organ (or skip it, if you so wish) (I strongly advise a sick bag if you wish to continue). I'm actually from Hong Kong and has just flown to UK this year to do my A-Levels. Previously I've been playing the piano and flute. Being a Bachaholic as I am, but unfortunately armed with an almost non-existent opportunity to learn the organ at Hong Kong (the churches' approach to young or prospective organists is very different in Hong Kong), I was confined to the keyboard suites and the WTC. At England I picked up the organ finally and progressed to grade 8 in 9 months.

Okay, enough boasting.

Yesterday whilst practising some trio sonata a sudden pain crept up under my left toe. What followed was a most inconvenient oedema under the second bone of the toe (I think it's 'proximal phalanx').

I woke up this morning and the swollen part has largely dispersed. Is it more likely to be an overworked tendon? Should I rest for some time and stop pedalling?

I do wear shoes for pedalling. Not Organmasters, due to thrifty shrewdness. I had soft-soled ballroom shoes as substitute. Is that too little protection? Or am I using a wrong pedalling technique? (I'm not sure - using the inside of your foot, the combination of ball and toe is correct, isn't it?)

Most worried,
Jonathan Yip

RSI is an injury which occurs in your arm, so it could not be that.

RSI = "repetitive strain injury" which can occur anywhere. That said, I don't know if that is your problem, but in any case I would rest it for a few days.

However I think it is preferable to have some support for your feet when pedalling and that soft-soled dance shoes and not good enough. Yes, I know some organists are happy to play in socks but I sometimes got sore feet when I played too long in socks. Now that I have decent shoes I never have any trouble.

I now have Organmasters but my first shoes were dance shoes sold as "character" shoes, which have a stiffer sole. You could also try tap shoes without the metal taps. The character shoes (leather uppers and soles) were half the price of the Organmasters, and there is an even cheaper version with, I think, canvas uppers that you could try out.

In the end I treated myself to Organmasters because the dance shoes for me, a female, had heels which were just a bit too narrow and tended to get stuck between the pedals. Men's shoes have wider heels but I couldn't get them small enough to fit me.

Hope this helps -- good luck