Pianostreet/world type question

Mofos, it looks like da 88 has raped my left forearm. A while ago I sat to prax at da 88 aftah not touching the pearly whites for some time. I got so carried away that I think I played for 2-3 hrs. Now for a pro or serious lil’ 88 mofo, that’s no big sheeyat. However, and I’m not sure if it was the next day, but da undahside of my left forearm started to feel a low-level pain that I’d be more inclined to call tension. I decided to abandon the 88 for a week, took some IBruphen and hoped it would go away. It’s been a few months and it’s not. If I stay away from the 88, I’m more or less pain free. However if I try to play with the left hand, I get tense rather quickly and feel this tightness da next dizzle.

This never happened before. Idk wtf is goin’ on. Does anyone has xperienz wit diz kinda sheeyat? I don’t think being on iBruphen for eternity is a good idea.

Yeah, definitely some strain injury. Pain in the underside of the arm is a warning sign, and those ligaments are weaker and easily damaged so be fucking careful.

Are you seated at a proper height? Make sure the elbows are level…

Months of this certainly sounds like maybe you need to see a specialist about this shit?

I prefer to sit a tiny bit higher, so I’m never below parallel. I play with a classic curved hand position. I don’t try rep that’s too much above my skill level (I’d say roughly grade 5 pieces on Henle’s website).

I practiced scales with my left hand (looking for smooth thumb movement and an even tone) yesterday for maybe 15-20 minutes yesterday and today I have tension. I’ll probably take a Motrin now.

I probably should see a specialist.

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Dude, you definitely need to see a specialist about this. Certainly does not sound normal. At all. :no_mouth:

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5-6 years ago I wanted to improve my tech on my own, so I started playing Hanon (which is as repetitive as repetitive gets) for 30 minutes a day before I started working on a piece or two. I did this for a year to a year and a half. Never had the slightest bit of tension.

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Yeah it seems to me this shit is not even related to the piano playing and must be some kind of inflammation?

I think that’s a very distinct possibility.

Thanks for taking my question seriously.

Yeah of course, stuff like this is pretty serious.

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It’s possible you’ve torn or inflamed something, for example this is credible.

Taking painkillers won’t solve the problem, it may even make it worse because you’re using it to override your body telling you no.

If you can, see a sports physiotherapist or similar.

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My old teach had some good advice early on which kept me away from problems, even being totally out of control at keyboard and playing things I hadn’t really worked into.

Think support not push or strike
Avoid locking your joints even for chords and octs so mass from arm or even upper body transfer to keyboard unimpeded.
Add support after you’ve figured out fingering and basic approach to a passages (this one a big help) vary intensity and hand positions when learning.

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Thanks. I’ll find someone.

Push or Strike? What’s that? I only know how to caress the keys. I have the golden tone. I’m from a lineage of Ukrainian pianists that go back to Liszt (possibly).

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I have semi abusive relationship with keys surely!

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I had something similar happen a few years ago. I had been playing all my life with no issues, then suddenly I was getting excessive strain and sore wrists and forearms. At that point I didn’t have a teacher, so I researched about the Taubman method and other “injury-free” techniques and tried to figure them out myself. I ended up changing my technique to use really exaggerated rotational movements for almost everything. This got rid of the pain. When I started lessons again, my teacher was laughing at how I was twirling my arms around and making so many goofy movements and told me to cut down on them. I did and haven’t had any problems since then. My theory is that relying on different movement patterns for a few years gave the more strained ones time to heal, even if the ones I was using weren’t the most efficient.

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