Dear David,
Thanks for sharing your experience and warning us about the importance of
developing good playing habits.
Years ago, I developed carpal tunnel syndrome while playing Celtic harp (poor
hand position). I now play mostly flutes, including shakuhachi, and I don't now
have anywhere near the pain I used to experience. Some things that worked for
me (Disclaimer: these may or may not work for you or anyone else, but sure
seemed to help me):
a good calcium supplement (some forms of calcium are more efficiently absorbed
by the body),
B complex,
antioxidant vitamens A, C, and E,
those tiny high gauss magnets that are made especially for pain relief,
gentle yoga stretching excercises
Mari D..
david sawyer wrote:
> Dear shakuhachi players, In response to Herb Rodriguez's comments about
> posture and breathing I want to share my story of injury,in the hope that
> some of you might avoid the difficulties I have encountered.
> I've been experiencing severe tendonitis in my wrists for the past 4 years
> as a direct result of playing shakuhachi. This manifests as heat and
> tingling in the wrist area and accompanying weakness in grip and holding
> ability in both hands. In my ignorance, at the beginning of the symptoms I
> chose to continue playing until I couldn't pick up the instrument (or
> anything else) without pain. My hands were so weak I couldn't pull items off
> the supermarket shelf. I stopped playing for a few weeks and recovered, only
> to revisit the experience again and again as soon as I had been in my
> habitual playing pattern for a while.
> So I started to educate myself about what was going on both physiologically
> and mentally and that journey is still going on. My observations:
>
> -Once I was injured I am forever predisposed to that type of injury.
> -Recovery means learning to live with my predisposition to injury. The
> injury is to be cared for during shakuhachi time and at all other times too.
> -There is little understanding amongst shakuhachi teachers about
> body/flute/mind relationships.
> -I have found no one-step cure.
> -Being obsessive about shakuhachi led me into injury. Wanting to sound
> 'good', wanting to play a piece as the score says, wanting to learn more
> technically difficult pieces, wanting to practice many hours a day. Wanting
> to attain, period, and thus playing beyond the capabilities of my body.
>
> Rehabilitative procedures that have helped:
> -STOP PLAYING, at least for a while.
> -I learned not to override my body signals.
> -I changed my posture so that my spine is aligned correctly over my hips and
> neck and head sits on my shoulders without tipping forwards or backwards.
> (my Rolfer gave me the best advice).
> -Rolfing was helpful in releasing cronic tensions that had built up over the
> years and that were essentially invisible to me. It gave me a blank slate
> with which to re-educate my pattern tendencies.
> -I became a tension-hunter, looking for areas where I was holding tension,
> some of which can be very subtle. I softened my grip and hung my arms more
> loosely from the shoulders. Shoulder/back tensions are still being looked at
> and continue to give me problems.
> _I learned how to do a good upper-body/hands comprehensive stretch before,
> during and after playing.
> -I learnt some simple yoga exercises to do every day that directly heal and
> build strength in my wrists, arms and shoulders and are the reason I can
> still play shakuhachi today.
> _I learnt to vacuum the studio floor(or any other such task) between pieces!
> -above all I learnt to love and respect injured-ME as shakuhachi enthusiast,
> My desires, my pains my frustrations and all.
>
> Everytime I was injured I was forced to re-examine my relationship with this
> bamboo....what does it mean to me, what constitutes 'right' playing for me,
> where is balance. I let go of all wants except the want to blow and I'm
> finding I stopped playing sankyoku and modern pieces and play only the
> 'simpler' honkyoku pieces like Kyo-choshi, Sashi or Kyushu Reibo.
> Of course I'm finding that these short, easier-to-finger pieces are
> bottomless and infinitely rich in possibility and I'm wondering why I have
> been so intent on devouring technically harder and longer pieces. I'm
> understanding that all my shakuhachi joy and expression can realize it's
> fullest potential with these pieces and I'm not missing anything.
>
> I would so welcome any comments from others who have had problems. It's been
> a bit of a lonely road, with much misinformation and I'm still learning.
> David Sawyer
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Jan 31 2001 - 12:46:36 PST