Jarosław Lipski
Sun, 27 Jan 2008 03:15:29 -0800
Rob, I experienced it many years ago. After a long session of practicing on the guitar in a cold room ( I was preparing the program for an international competition), I decided to rest. And after putting the instrument away I felt that my left hand is sort of weak. I thought I need a rest, but after some hours of not using my hand, the pain developed in my forearm. The doctor said there was nothing wrong with muscles and tendons, but he gave me the address to his friend who had a big experience with musicians ( I can't remember his address, anyway it was in London). After examination he said that it's the "overuse syndrome" and there is really not much that could be done to overcome this problem. The only remedy is the REST and time. In my case it was more than a year (almost two) of not using my hand. But the good news are that it disappeared totally - there is not even a trace of this illness in my arm! The mechanism of this is not really known. In the beginning I tried using many treatments that people do in case of tendonitis, but nothing worked. The doctor was right - the only remedy was not using the hand at all (even for drinking tea, brushing your teeth or grooming)! I can't say your case is the same, but I think it would be good to consult somebody who works with musicians too. Best regards Jaroslaw -----Original Message----- From: Rob [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2008 9:57 PM To: baroque-lute@cs.dartmouth.edu Subject: [BAROQUE-LUTE] arm pain Bad news. I'm typing with one hand only as I seem to have a problem with my left. For the past five days I've had muscular pain in my upper left arm. I thought I must have knocked it, but couldn't remember doing so. I did teach a percussion class last Monday, but hardly used my left arm at all. Anyway, I could still play the lute - no problem with fingers, tendons, carpal tunnels, etc. I thought the pain would pass. But it hasn't. In fact, today it has got a lot worse. I nearly crashed the car because I suddenly lost the use of the left arm. Luckily I was close to home. Later I picked up a book and dropped it immediately - the pain was too much. So, I'm really worried. I can still wiggle my fingers - no problem at all there - but I can't drive, or lift my instrument with the left arm. I'm still hopeful it will all disappear tomorrow, but I plan to go to hospital emergency if it doesn't. Every movement is painful, but it still feels like a muscular problem. Any experience of this? Rob www.rmguitar.info _____ -- To get on or off this list see list information at http://www.cs.dartmouth.edu/~wbc/lute-admin/index.html