4Real Forums: shoulder pain and violin

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Topic: shoulder pain and violin

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ALmom
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Joined: May 18 2005
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Posted: Sept 08 2007 at 4:55pm \| IP Logged

I posted on the prayer forum for my dd shoulder pain. She is thankfully able to practice piano as normal without pain and about to enter a concerto competition where she is also accompanying a tuba in the same competition. I joke with her about conflict of interest here! Obviously, things are improved enough that they are not impacting her piano and she is practicing like normal here.

She is still struggling with violin. Any ideas on things that cause shoulder pain in violin playing? She did meet with a Alexandrine technique person but they really didnt' see anything in her violin playing so we are baffled. We were expecting them to find something with form or whatever or at least see tense muscles during playing. She did have a new shoulder rest when she met with this person so maybe some of the initial problem was from still using the stuff from when she started (age 13) I am sure she did tend to tense her shoulder or bring it up in the past (we suspect it was the orchestra playing more than her lessons here and the trying to avoid the violinists bow next to you as they were sitting and crowded and evidently that is a common time to have some sloppiness come in. Also since she hasn't been playing violin as much as others it may have been too much at one time on the violin for her). We have also figured that she pulled a muscle doing stretching exercises (the first chiropractor wanted her to stretch a lot and dd being typical driven musician temperment was evidently stretching at least 15 times a day

. Her current chiropractor works with athletes rather than old ladies so the communication is a bit more natural - and this chiropractor couldn't believe the other told her to stretch so much - she shouldn't be stretching more than twice a day. (Now the first chiropractor did not tell her to stretch 15 times a day, I'm sure - but that is how a musician or athlete might interpret "a lot" whereas a little old lady might manage to do it once or twice if she was told " a lot."

In any case, we suspect she may have pulled a muscle doing all that stretching. It is better than when she was at home in tears to even sit up and telling the doc she was experiencing "some pain"

(I went in with her at that point so I could interpret musicians and make sure we said "some pain" means she cannot even sit up). There wasn't any serious damage and she had to take it really, really easy her last few weeks at home - it killed her not to practice hardly at all. Things have improved a lot since then and she really is getting better - except she still experiences a lot of pain when she practices violin - and she cannot afford to let that happen and start interfering with piano. (Thank you all for prayers). Right now her violin prof is having her prop her elbow on the stand and working mostly on bowing techniques to try and relieve shoulder strain. This is keeping her shoulder from hurting anyways. I know she must be getting low as she was looking at what other alternatives there were - don't think anyone would be interested in teaching her cello as a 19 yo beginner - especially not at a college and I know she had a hard enough time finding a teacher willing to work with a 13 yo beginner. We are so grateful that her violin prof is so understanding and willing and happy to work with her through this. She is not a violin major so it isn't devastating or anything - but it is frustrating her as she said that her last lesson she just felt like she was starting all over at the beginning with violin. Now, she is picky with herself so I suspect it wasn't quite that bad but she obviously felt like her playing stunk. She hadn't been able to practice but about 3 times in the week on violin so I'm sure it wasn't what she was used to playing. I know it must be bad if it is affecting her practicing like this as normally she has no trouble practicing at least an hour per day on her secondary (5 hours or so on her piano). She loves playing the violin and really wants to get good at it - not expecting to be a soloist (that is more the piano where she wants to do chamber and soloing with orchestras) or anything but she would like to be able to do fun, informal chamber and some small professional orchestras with violin. Her prof is very understanding and is working with her so that is really good but our dd wants to get to the point where regular and consistent practice doesn't cause pain as that is the only ways she's going to play better. She doesn't want to keep taking classes if she cannot practice as that isn't really fair to the teacher and she isn't going to get better unless she can practice. I know nothing about music or musicians injuries so any knowledge or hints folks can share are much appreciated.

Sorry this has been so longwinded.

Janet

SeaStar
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Joined: Sept 16 2006
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Posted: Sept 08 2007 at 6:44pm \| IP Logged

She may have injured her rotator cuff, which can be very painful. Also, if the pain is in the front of the shoulder, she could have biceps tendonitis (inflammation where the biceps tendon crosses the shoulder joint).

Have you seen a hand surgeon? That sounds extreme, but a hand surgeon is in the orthopedic field and can give you some good information on arm/shoulder injuries. Sometimes having a specific diagnosis and knowing what to expect goes a long way towards healing.

I will keep her in my prayers. It is so hard to have pain and not be able to do the things you love.

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Chari
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Joined: Jan 28 2005
Location: California
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Posted: Sept 09 2007 at 1:47am \| IP Logged

Janet,

I know nothing......but will pass this info on to Anne, and we will both pray. Anne is very intimately aware of this type of situation, and is at this time making "changes" in her future. Goodbye music major

In fact, I meant to pm you for a specific prayer request from you and your dd, but never got around to it. with this post, I see God intends for us to help each other.

Consider your dd adopted.........and we would love your prayers in return.

I cannot remember if I know your dd's name, but if you pm her name to us, we can pray more specifically, whatever is in your comfort zone.

Thanks........and prayers from Mount Shasta!

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Chari...Take Up & Read
Dh Marty 27yrs...3 lovely maidens: Anne 24, Sarah 20 & Maddelyn 17 and 3 chivalrous sons: Matthew 22, Garrett 16 & Malachy 11

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