Violin playing uses the wrist in a position of continuous, sometimes severe exertion. Such activity can obviously cause injury over time, and so violinist sometimes wear a violin wrist aid to protect their arm and assist their playing.
Repetitive strain injuries (RSI) are common among musicians. This applies to practically any instrument. An RSI is caused when the same movement is performed many times, over a prolonged period, not merely hours but weeks or months. The cumulative stress to the soft tissue (i. E. Muscles, tendons and ligaments) can result in a painful and incapacitating injury over time.
An RSI is insidious in its development. It does not exhibit symptoms until its acute onset. Sudden swollen appearance, pain and limited motion cannot be anticipated in advance, and the musician typically is not aware that the injury is developing. However, an injury that takes so long to arise also takes a long time to heal. This can suspend all musical practise and performance for a protracted period.
Concerning the wrist specifically, the potential for RSI is significant. In order to understand how the wrist gets injured, one needs to know its anatomy. Starting with the skeletal structure, there are the bones of the hand, the two long bones in the forearm, and the bones in the wrist that attached them to each other. These wrist bones are known as the carpals. The carpal area therefore comprises many small bones with irregular shapes that are packed together and joined to each other by ligaments. The forearm bones connect to them on one side, and the metacarpals, or bones of the palm, on the other.
The carpal arrangement makes the extensive rotational movement by the hand possible. But there is a problem associated with this where the hand is constantly used for a specific motion or activity. The ligaments between the carpals sometimes become swollen and painful, and this limits the movement of the hand.
The permanently strained wrist posture during violin playing is an obvious risk activity for this type of injury. Ligaments have no ability to expand or contract, unlike muscles and tendons, and so they cannot tolerate indefinite strain. Once injured, they take an exceptionally long time to heal because their blood circulation is poor, and their extremely strong tissue takes more time than other tissue in the body to grow. Tendinitis is the swelling and hardening of the usually flexible tendons.
An injured musician cannot play to their usual ability. Their hand cannot move as it usually does, and the instrument's use is accompanied by pain.
The temptation to any serious musician is to "play through the pain" or to "keep on practising". However, the reality is that an RSI, once manifested, can be aggravated through further repetition of the same activity, and if it is not given time to recover, it can become more serious or even permanent. Injured musicians should seek medical attention immediately, and be prepared to take rest periods in their practise schedule.
Repetitive strain injuries (RSI) are common among musicians. This applies to practically any instrument. An RSI is caused when the same movement is performed many times, over a prolonged period, not merely hours but weeks or months. The cumulative stress to the soft tissue (i. E. Muscles, tendons and ligaments) can result in a painful and incapacitating injury over time.
An RSI is insidious in its development. It does not exhibit symptoms until its acute onset. Sudden swollen appearance, pain and limited motion cannot be anticipated in advance, and the musician typically is not aware that the injury is developing. However, an injury that takes so long to arise also takes a long time to heal. This can suspend all musical practise and performance for a protracted period.
Concerning the wrist specifically, the potential for RSI is significant. In order to understand how the wrist gets injured, one needs to know its anatomy. Starting with the skeletal structure, there are the bones of the hand, the two long bones in the forearm, and the bones in the wrist that attached them to each other. These wrist bones are known as the carpals. The carpal area therefore comprises many small bones with irregular shapes that are packed together and joined to each other by ligaments. The forearm bones connect to them on one side, and the metacarpals, or bones of the palm, on the other.
The carpal arrangement makes the extensive rotational movement by the hand possible. But there is a problem associated with this where the hand is constantly used for a specific motion or activity. The ligaments between the carpals sometimes become swollen and painful, and this limits the movement of the hand.
The permanently strained wrist posture during violin playing is an obvious risk activity for this type of injury. Ligaments have no ability to expand or contract, unlike muscles and tendons, and so they cannot tolerate indefinite strain. Once injured, they take an exceptionally long time to heal because their blood circulation is poor, and their extremely strong tissue takes more time than other tissue in the body to grow. Tendinitis is the swelling and hardening of the usually flexible tendons.
An injured musician cannot play to their usual ability. Their hand cannot move as it usually does, and the instrument's use is accompanied by pain.
The temptation to any serious musician is to "play through the pain" or to "keep on practising". However, the reality is that an RSI, once manifested, can be aggravated through further repetition of the same activity, and if it is not given time to recover, it can become more serious or even permanent. Injured musicians should seek medical attention immediately, and be prepared to take rest periods in their practise schedule.
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