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.
The term RSI stands for repetitive strain injury. RSIs are sometimes suffered by musicians, on potentially any instrument. Performing the same, sometimes strenuous, movement of the hand thousands of times through a period of days, weeks or months can give rise to an RSI. Soft tissue, such as tendons or ligaments (or even muscles), starts to swell and experience pain, and cannot move as easily at it used to.
RSI are insipid - they develop over time without obvious symptoms. The sudden onset of pain, swelling and loss of movement is not easy to predict. The musician may have no prior awareness of impending injury. But because it has taken so long to develop, it also takes a long time to subside, so they may suddenly be unable to practise properly for an extended period.
The wrist is especially susceptible to RSI. Explaining this statement requires a brief description of the wrist's internal structure. The hand's palm is formed by bones known as the metacarpals. These are joined on one end to the carpals, or bones of the wrist, which are in turn connected to the two long forearm bones. The carpals are small, block-like bones that are massed together and connected securely by inflexible ligaments.
The carpal formation allows the hand to perform the immense range of activity that it is able to. If the wrist is subjected to a repetitive and strenuous activity, though, the strong yet inflexible ligaments become swollen and painful, and the hand is more limited in how it moves.
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 attitude of some musicians is to play as usual, no matter the pain or the nature of the injury. This is not as sensible as it may seem, since an RSI gets progressively more serious if it is not allowed to rest and repair itself. In time, the damage or disability can become permanent. Performing the same, injuring activity despite the pain is not advisable. Musicians who are experiencing an RSI should, as a matter of course, see a physiotherapist or doctor, and also try to arrange extra rest opportunities in their playing timetable.
The term RSI stands for repetitive strain injury. RSIs are sometimes suffered by musicians, on potentially any instrument. Performing the same, sometimes strenuous, movement of the hand thousands of times through a period of days, weeks or months can give rise to an RSI. Soft tissue, such as tendons or ligaments (or even muscles), starts to swell and experience pain, and cannot move as easily at it used to.
RSI are insipid - they develop over time without obvious symptoms. The sudden onset of pain, swelling and loss of movement is not easy to predict. The musician may have no prior awareness of impending injury. But because it has taken so long to develop, it also takes a long time to subside, so they may suddenly be unable to practise properly for an extended period.
The wrist is especially susceptible to RSI. Explaining this statement requires a brief description of the wrist's internal structure. The hand's palm is formed by bones known as the metacarpals. These are joined on one end to the carpals, or bones of the wrist, which are in turn connected to the two long forearm bones. The carpals are small, block-like bones that are massed together and connected securely by inflexible ligaments.
The carpal formation allows the hand to perform the immense range of activity that it is able to. If the wrist is subjected to a repetitive and strenuous activity, though, the strong yet inflexible ligaments become swollen and painful, and the hand is more limited in how it moves.
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 attitude of some musicians is to play as usual, no matter the pain or the nature of the injury. This is not as sensible as it may seem, since an RSI gets progressively more serious if it is not allowed to rest and repair itself. In time, the damage or disability can become permanent. Performing the same, injuring activity despite the pain is not advisable. Musicians who are experiencing an RSI should, as a matter of course, see a physiotherapist or doctor, and also try to arrange extra rest opportunities in their playing timetable.
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