Any time that I play the fiddle for extended periods of time (several hours) or a lot over a few days, I get a sort of cramping, stiffness, and soreness in the tendons and muscles of my left wrist and fingers. This makes it not so much painful, but mostly just a nuisance and more difficult to keep playing. I've had tendonitis in the past, but not in my left hand/arm, and it hasn't been a problem in the last few years, so I don't think that's the issue. Is it just me or does anyone else have similar problems? And what do you do about it?
First, let me say: I'm not a doctor. However, I have been playing the piano for 14 years. I play it for several hours on Sundays, so I have experienced the stiffness, etc. you mention. Here's what I discovered that helped me. Take it for whatever it's worth....
Playing an instrument is like any other kind of physical exercise. You need to take breaks frequently. Consult your physician to determine when and how often, especially given your previous injury. If you feel yourself tensing up, it's time to take a break, or even stop. Practicing/playing with tension and cramping is a great way to ingrain the bad technique that either caused it or results from it.
Another possible cause is bad technique, lack of relaxation while playing, bad posture, etc. I have no idea if this applies to you or not, but I know that on the piano, if my technique is bad, I will be hurting after only a few minutes of playing. But if my technique/posture/relaxation/etc. are good, I can play for quite some time before needing a break.
Anyway...hope that helps. Let me know what works for you, as I recently started learning the fiddle myself.
Thanks for the advice, Steve. I've been told by some friends that I should try adjusting my technique a bit, in hopes that a different hand position will relieve some of the repetitive stress that I'm putting on my hand. My technique is generally good, but I thought that maybe 15+ years of playing for sometimes several hours a day might be cause for an injury caused by repetitive stress and overuse. I saw a doctor about it a few years ago, and was told that I should simply stop playing. I did, for a few weeks, but that was as long as I was able to stop for because of gigs, teaching lessons, etc. When I started back up again, I was almost worse off than before, because I was so out of practice that my fingers didn't want to move when I tried to play. So, I ended up wearing a wrist brace, but I couldn't wear it while I played, so it didn't help all that much. There's not really an easy solution (that I've found) that allows me to still play while solving the problem of soreness and inconvenience caused by the pain in my wrist. I'm afraid there's not really a win-win situation here, but if anyone else has any suggestions, please let me know. Thanks.
I have had lots of problems with repetitive stress affecting playing fiddle, though more in my right arm than in the left. There are a lot of different causes for these problems and a wrist brace will help some. For me, the actual cause of the problems is more in my neck and shoulder, but it affects circulation and nerves in the hand and arm.
There is a very helpful site for getting more familiar with some of the problems musicians face at:
I have found the a lot of the medical professionals were not very helpful and it can be very challenging to diagnose some of the problems. Feel free to contact me directly if you have more questions.
I had the same problem recently. I got a shoulder rest and I learned some stretches that I do with my arms. They are the same ones people do for carpal tunnel. The biggest thing though is to try to concentrate on relaxing while you are playing. It's very difficult. You don't even realize you are tensing up.
I've had good results when I follow my chiropractor's advice. His point is that muscles and tendons need to be used equally in both directions. The thing that's worked for the stiff elbows I get from playing (and yes, relaxing would be a huge help, someday I'll actually remember to do that while I'm playing) is to hang from a bar I put in the doorway of the room where I practice. Since playing the fiddle curls my wrists and hands inward, I do stretches in the opposite direction. And when I do remember to stop and stretch out my hands and arms every 15 minutes or so it's so helpful I can't imagine why I don't do it more often. For me it's not that I don't know what to do, it's having the self-discipline to put down the darn fiddle and actually do it
I've always used my hands a lot, not just playing fiddle and other musical instruments, but writing on a computer keyboard, doing house construction, building hiking trails, juggling 8 hours a day as a teenager, etc. The toll is cumulative. I also have several genetic disorders that directly impact the tendons, ligaments, muscles, and nerves in my arms and hands. I've lived with chronic tendonitis for basically all of my life.
So I've seen all sorts of doctors and specialists. Different treatments worked at different times, but the longest lasting results have come from a few self-care things.
First, warm up properly. Not just your hands, but the muscles in your forearms (which are the ones that actually move your fingers). Gently range-of-motion stretching and wiggling are good for this. I stretch my hands, forearms, and shoulders every single day, usually after a warm shower. Before sessions and gigs, I also like to put on heavy rubber gloves and do the dishes in the hottest water I can get out of our faucet. The combination of heat and activity really loosens my hands up.
Massage from a certified therapist has also helped me tremendously. Can't recommend it enough. Sometimes your muscles can build up adhesions between bands of fibers, A good, deep massage helps break those sticking points, restoring normal range of motion and taking a lot of stress off tendons (which don't stretch as easily or as far as muscles can).
And the usual advice to release all tension when playing. It doesn't take any strength to play fiddle, but it does take finesse. Gripping the neck or bow, pressing hard on the strings, clenching your jaw on the chinrest--all of these get in the way of finesse. Relax. Set up a conscious checklist of tension points to monitor as you play and let go of any tension the second you notice it. I was horrible at this when I first started, so if I can learn to do it, anyone can. But it took conscious effort for me to recognize tension and make it go away.
Apply the relaxation concepts and techniques to everything else you do with your hands, too. It's amazing how often we over-tense when typing, using hand tools, gripping a car steering wheel or knife and fork when eating, and sometimes even when our hands are empty--ever catch yourself making fists or building pressure when your hands are folded together? Lots of people do this without noticing.
Also, if your left hand is giving your problems, give it a rest. Use your right hand to do as much as possible all the daily chores. Open doors with your right hand. Use the right hand for everything you pick up or hold. Take as much stress as possible off the left and save it for fiddling. And then make fiddling as stress free as possible.
One of the easiest ways to torture your left hand with a fiddle is to hold the neck strraight out in front of your body, rather than off toward the left shoulder at around a 45 degree angle. Holding it straight out forces you to twist your forearm, wrist, and hand, instantly creating muscle tension. So keep the fiddle pointed off to the left, and swing your elbow in toward your ribs whenever you need to reach across to the D and G strings.
When you put your fiddle and bow into position to play the first note, is this an easy, comfortable position? If you start tense and cramped things can only go downhill from there.
Just a note, that 'time' doesn't necessarily mean you have 'good' technique. You may be proficient with the bits that make up what you're trying to achieve with this music, but that doesn't mean you have 'good' technique. The problem is that over time we lose contact with the bad things we've been practicing and incorporating in our technique. We take them for granted. We stop questioning them or looking at the finer details critically. And here's the bit that can put you off, the scary bit, well, one of those bits ~ IF (a big IF) ~ you have ingrained problems, bad technique that has incorporated itself in your playing over time, it will take 'time' to properly analyze it and to cure it, and a lot of us lack that patience, at our expense. IF, still a big one, this is the case and you choose not to deal with it ~ it will cut the 'time' you have left to enjoy playing this music. Also, since you can't see a problem, it might be a wise idea to get someone else to watch what you're doing, someone that might be able to help, like a sports injury doctor, or, if you were lucky enough to have one nearby, a music performance doctor... YES! ~ they do exist, in most major cities with an orchestra...
Yes, help can be had, and I've seen others turn it around and rediscover the music and even raise their appreciation of it and their own abilities with it. That is with those with the want and patience to deal with the fact that they were doing something wrong in the first place. That is not a universal ability.
I have known musicians who were amazing, wonderful, talented, and had let certain things incorporate themselves into their playing, with crippling results. Sometimes the neglect/abuse has lead to them having to give up the music, sometimes temporarily, sometimes permanently. I have also known those that had to stop for a spell, but came back and started from the beginning so as to not work tension into their playing ~ and ~ they are now even better musicians than they were before, more relaxed, more understanding, more patient, less ratty. YES! ~ the discomfort that was crippling their playing also crippled their social graces. Others suffered from their frustrations...
Last note, while there are congenital problems, mostly these difficulties are self-inflicted. It is often rooted in our early passions, where we pushed it so hard that the 'push' remained a part of our playing. That drive to get that twiddle, that tune, that way with it is genreally not 'relaxed' or 'considerate' of the mechanics behind it all + the muscles, tendons, tendon sheaths, joints and all ~ and the psyche driving it... Recognizing this and taking responsibility for it is another thing. Up above this are great suggestions, so this is just a reminder that it generally isn't a problem from outside but one that is internal, and the root to it may be so far back in our early involvement in this tradition that we've lost sight of it...
Get an informed and direct opinion after reading our suggestions... Doctors with experience in this field are a blessing. They have my blessings, and I have been helped by such expertise, as have many, many others. Be patient, take it easy, and if you have to start from scratch, embrace it, enjoy it, don't let those tensions creep back in... Also, if you do it right, it will take less time and you will reep the rewards tenfold...
P.S. ~ never be too above taking a 'beginning' workshop. There is always something to learn, including how another teaches beginners, and even basics that we've forgotten about, over looked or taken for granted... I also love the energy of 'beginners', that passion, and plugging back into it can be a kick... You do have to remember though, if you are experienced, that it's someone else doing the teaching, unless they invite your opinion or direct involvement...
Excellent advice above.
What I have done to deal with such problems is learn a different instrument. I would suggest the whistle. The mechanics are very different. It will take time to cross the gap of profficiancy, but once done will be very rewarding. You say after a rest your problems are worse, however I feel that yrs of cumulative effects will take time to repair.
So; 1] reduce your playing time dramatically, concentrating on remedial work, stretching, Rolfing, yoga, runing, Tai chi massage.
Relax your face and shoulders.
2;]Learn to play the whistle, there will be many other benefits.
good luck.
It can be hard to 'give up' something when you may have spent years or decades learning and 'perfecting' a skill. But we have to give it all up at the end. Fortunately you dont have to give up the fiddle. Yet! So action now may give you years more fiddling, while inaction and denial are the worst approaches.
As i suggest regularily, a focused, daily , approach to solving this issue is to be recommended. Every day.
The "I am not a doctor" disclaimer applies here; however, around sixteen months ago I was experiencing severe pain in both wrists, as well as stiffness in both hands and fingers. Some days the pain was unbearable, and I couldn't function: I couldn't write, I couldn't type, I couldn't drive, I couldn't even hold onto the bars on the bus if there weren't seats available. Now, I experience the occasional stiffness every now and again, but that's it, and it's getting better. What helped me:
1. I didn't cut down on the amount that I practiced, but every thirty minutes, or as soon as I felt pain or discomfort, whichever was less, I put my fiddle away and iced my wrists for twenty minutes.
2. I got flexible wrist braces, which I wear when I use the computer.
3. I learned to relax while playing. It's only in this past month that I became able to play with little enough tension that I can play for long periods at a stretch. Right now, it's my right wrist almost exclusively that gives me problems, but last year my left hand and fingers were troubling me too. I tried an exercise that I think one of the members here posted: bow the way you usually do, but with your left hand, touch your fingers to the string as lightly as possible. Your tone will be crap, of course, I credit this exercise in having me release my death grip on my fiddle, which I needed to do in order to learn vibrato.
4, which should be 1. I saw a doctor, who advised me on 1 and 2.
Actually learning vibrato is a good way to learn to relaxi your grip on the neck. Even if you rarely use vibrato in your playing, it's worth it for lossening up.
"C" mentioned the congenital issues in passing above. I agree with him that we bring most repetive stress problems on ourselves. But there are real conditions that contribute or even cause problems, too. One of these is the most common genetic disorder among people of Irish and Scottish descent, present in more than 25 percent of the population. It's called hemochromatosis--over absorption of iron. The excess iron causes stiff sore hands and finger, joint stiffness, arthritis, and a host of really serious problems (liver cancer, heart problems, diabetes, and so on) that are eventually fatal if the underlying iron issue isn't treated.
I have hemochromatosis. It's hereditary. There's a gene test to determine whether you have it. There are web sites that describe the disorder, its symptoms, and treatment. I always encourage anyone of "celtic" descent with stiff, sore hands, heart arrhythmias, fatigue, or elevated blood iron levels to ask their doctor about the possibility of hemochromatosis. Treatment (which is easy and relatively inexpensive) cured my stiff, sore hands and let me play fiddle to my fullest potential. It also saved me from certain liver cancer, diabetes, and other life-enders. My grandfather died of this at a young age. At 49, I've already outlived him. And my son, who's gene test came back positive, has started treatement at a very young age and will never have to worry about any of it.
Yeah, actually it was learning vibrato that (in large part) allowed me to release tension in my left hand, not the other way around. For some reason, the incentive of avoiding injury was not sufficient for me to successfully will my left hand to loosen, but the incentive of learning vibrato did the trick.
Problems while playing fiddle...
Problems while playing fiddle...
Any time that I play the fiddle for extended periods of time (several hours) or a lot over a few days, I get a sort of cramping, stiffness, and soreness in the tendons and muscles of my left wrist and fingers. This makes it not so much painful, but mostly just a nuisance and more difficult to keep playing. I've had tendonitis in the past, but not in my left hand/arm, and it hasn't been a problem in the last few years, so I don't think that's the issue. Is it just me or does anyone else have similar problems? And what do you do about it?
# Posted on December 21st 2007 by FidDLe01
Re: Problems while playing fiddle...
First, let me say: I'm not a doctor. However, I have been playing the piano for 14 years. I play it for several hours on Sundays, so I have experienced the stiffness, etc. you mention. Here's what I discovered that helped me. Take it for whatever it's worth....
Playing an instrument is like any other kind of physical exercise. You need to take breaks frequently. Consult your physician to determine when and how often, especially given your previous injury. If you feel yourself tensing up, it's time to take a break, or even stop. Practicing/playing with tension and cramping is a great way to ingrain the bad technique that either caused it or results from it.
Another possible cause is bad technique, lack of relaxation while playing, bad posture, etc. I have no idea if this applies to you or not, but I know that on the piano, if my technique is bad, I will be hurting after only a few minutes of playing. But if my technique/posture/relaxation/etc. are good, I can play for quite some time before needing a break.
Anyway...hope that helps. Let me know what works for you, as I recently started learning the fiddle myself.
Thanks,
Steve
# Posted on December 21st 2007 by steve95054
Re: Problems while playing fiddle...
Thanks for the advice, Steve. I've been told by some friends that I should try adjusting my technique a bit, in hopes that a different hand position will relieve some of the repetitive stress that I'm putting on my hand. My technique is generally good, but I thought that maybe 15+ years of playing for sometimes several hours a day might be cause for an injury caused by repetitive stress and overuse. I saw a doctor about it a few years ago, and was told that I should simply stop playing. I did, for a few weeks, but that was as long as I was able to stop for because of gigs, teaching lessons, etc. When I started back up again, I was almost worse off than before, because I was so out of practice that my fingers didn't want to move when I tried to play. So, I ended up wearing a wrist brace, but I couldn't wear it while I played, so it didn't help all that much. There's not really an easy solution (that I've found) that allows me to still play while solving the problem of soreness and inconvenience caused by the pain in my wrist. I'm afraid there's not really a win-win situation here, but if anyone else has any suggestions, please let me know. Thanks.
# Posted on December 21st 2007 by FidDLe01
Re: Problems while playing fiddle...
Hi there
I have had lots of problems with repetitive stress affecting playing fiddle, though more in my right arm than in the left. There are a lot of different causes for these problems and a wrist brace will help some. For me, the actual cause of the problems is more in my neck and shoulder, but it affects circulation and nerves in the hand and arm.
There is a very helpful site for getting more familiar with some of the problems musicians face at:
http://eeshop.unl.edu/music.html
I have found the a lot of the medical professionals were not very helpful and it can be very challenging to diagnose some of the problems. Feel free to contact me directly if you have more questions.
# Posted on December 21st 2007 by azfiddle
Re: Problems while playing fiddle...
I had the same problem recently. I got a shoulder rest and I learned some stretches that I do with my arms. They are the same ones people do for carpal tunnel. The biggest thing though is to try to concentrate on relaxing while you are playing. It's very difficult. You don't even realize you are tensing up.
# Posted on December 21st 2007 by SWFL Fiddler
Re: Problems while playing fiddle...
I've had good results when I follow my chiropractor's advice. His point is that muscles and tendons need to be used equally in both directions. The thing that's worked for the stiff elbows I get from playing (and yes, relaxing would be a huge help, someday I'll actually remember to do that while I'm playing) is to hang from a bar I put in the doorway of the room where I practice. Since playing the fiddle curls my wrists and hands inward, I do stretches in the opposite direction. And when I do remember to stop and stretch out my hands and arms every 15 minutes or so it's so helpful I can't imagine why I don't do it more often. For me it's not that I don't know what to do, it's having the self-discipline to put down the darn fiddle and actually do it
# Posted on December 21st 2007 by aikifiddler
Re: Problems while playing fiddle...
I've always used my hands a lot, not just playing fiddle and other musical instruments, but writing on a computer keyboard, doing house construction, building hiking trails, juggling 8 hours a day as a teenager, etc. The toll is cumulative. I also have several genetic disorders that directly impact the tendons, ligaments, muscles, and nerves in my arms and hands. I've lived with chronic tendonitis for basically all of my life.
So I've seen all sorts of doctors and specialists. Different treatments worked at different times, but the longest lasting results have come from a few self-care things.
First, warm up properly. Not just your hands, but the muscles in your forearms (which are the ones that actually move your fingers). Gently range-of-motion stretching and wiggling are good for this. I stretch my hands, forearms, and shoulders every single day, usually after a warm shower. Before sessions and gigs, I also like to put on heavy rubber gloves and do the dishes in the hottest water I can get out of our faucet. The combination of heat and activity really loosens my hands up.
Massage from a certified therapist has also helped me tremendously. Can't recommend it enough. Sometimes your muscles can build up adhesions between bands of fibers, A good, deep massage helps break those sticking points, restoring normal range of motion and taking a lot of stress off tendons (which don't stretch as easily or as far as muscles can).
And the usual advice to release all tension when playing. It doesn't take any strength to play fiddle, but it does take finesse. Gripping the neck or bow, pressing hard on the strings, clenching your jaw on the chinrest--all of these get in the way of finesse. Relax. Set up a conscious checklist of tension points to monitor as you play and let go of any tension the second you notice it. I was horrible at this when I first started, so if I can learn to do it, anyone can. But it took conscious effort for me to recognize tension and make it go away.
Apply the relaxation concepts and techniques to everything else you do with your hands, too. It's amazing how often we over-tense when typing, using hand tools, gripping a car steering wheel or knife and fork when eating, and sometimes even when our hands are empty--ever catch yourself making fists or building pressure when your hands are folded together? Lots of people do this without noticing.
Also, if your left hand is giving your problems, give it a rest. Use your right hand to do as much as possible all the daily chores. Open doors with your right hand. Use the right hand for everything you pick up or hold. Take as much stress as possible off the left and save it for fiddling. And then make fiddling as stress free as possible.
One of the easiest ways to torture your left hand with a fiddle is to hold the neck strraight out in front of your body, rather than off toward the left shoulder at around a 45 degree angle. Holding it straight out forces you to twist your forearm, wrist, and hand, instantly creating muscle tension. So keep the fiddle pointed off to the left, and swing your elbow in toward your ribs whenever you need to reach across to the D and G strings.
Good luck with easing the soreness and stiffness.
# Posted on December 21st 2007 by Will CPT
Re: Problems while playing fiddle...
When you put your fiddle and bow into position to play the first note, is this an easy, comfortable position? If you start tense and cramped things can only go downhill from there.
# Posted on December 21st 2007 by c.g.
Re: Problems while playing fiddle...
Just a note, that 'time' doesn't necessarily mean you have 'good' technique. You may be proficient with the bits that make up what you're trying to achieve with this music, but that doesn't mean you have 'good' technique. The problem is that over time we lose contact with the bad things we've been practicing and incorporating in our technique. We take them for granted. We stop questioning them or looking at the finer details critically. And here's the bit that can put you off, the scary bit, well, one of those bits ~ IF (a big IF) ~ you have ingrained problems, bad technique that has incorporated itself in your playing over time, it will take 'time' to properly analyze it and to cure it, and a lot of us lack that patience, at our expense. IF, still a big one, this is the case and you choose not to deal with it ~ it will cut the 'time' you have left to enjoy playing this music. Also, since you can't see a problem, it might be a wise idea to get someone else to watch what you're doing, someone that might be able to help, like a sports injury doctor, or, if you were lucky enough to have one nearby, a music performance doctor... YES! ~ they do exist, in most major cities with an orchestra...
Yes, help can be had, and I've seen others turn it around and rediscover the music and even raise their appreciation of it and their own abilities with it. That is with those with the want and patience to deal with the fact that they were doing something wrong in the first place. That is not a universal ability.
I have known musicians who were amazing, wonderful, talented, and had let certain things incorporate themselves into their playing, with crippling results. Sometimes the neglect/abuse has lead to them having to give up the music, sometimes temporarily, sometimes permanently. I have also known those that had to stop for a spell, but came back and started from the beginning so as to not work tension into their playing ~ and ~ they are now even better musicians than they were before, more relaxed, more understanding, more patient, less ratty. YES! ~ the discomfort that was crippling their playing also crippled their social graces. Others suffered from their frustrations...
Last note, while there are congenital problems, mostly these difficulties are self-inflicted. It is often rooted in our early passions, where we pushed it so hard that the 'push' remained a part of our playing. That drive to get that twiddle, that tune, that way with it is genreally not 'relaxed' or 'considerate' of the mechanics behind it all + the muscles, tendons, tendon sheaths, joints and all ~ and the psyche driving it... Recognizing this and taking responsibility for it is another thing. Up above this are great suggestions, so this is just a reminder that it generally isn't a problem from outside but one that is internal, and the root to it may be so far back in our early involvement in this tradition that we've lost sight of it...
Get an informed and direct opinion after reading our suggestions... Doctors with experience in this field are a blessing. They have my blessings, and I have been helped by such expertise, as have many, many others. Be patient, take it easy, and if you have to start from scratch, embrace it, enjoy it, don't let those tensions creep back in... Also, if you do it right, it will take less time and you will reep the rewards tenfold...
# Posted on December 21st 2007 by ceolachan
P.S. ~ never be too above taking a 'beginning' workshop. There is always something to learn, including how another teaches beginners, and even basics that we've forgotten about, over looked or taken for granted... I also love the energy of 'beginners', that passion, and plugging back into it can be a kick... You do have to remember though, if you are experienced, that it's someone else doing the teaching, unless they invite your opinion or direct involvement...
Good luck, and good health....
# Posted on December 21st 2007 by ceolachan
Re: Problems while playing fiddle...
Excellent advice above.
What I have done to deal with such problems is learn a different instrument. I would suggest the whistle. The mechanics are very different. It will take time to cross the gap of profficiancy, but once done will be very rewarding. You say after a rest your problems are worse, however I feel that yrs of cumulative effects will take time to repair.
So; 1] reduce your playing time dramatically, concentrating on remedial work, stretching, Rolfing, yoga, runing, Tai chi massage.
Relax your face and shoulders.
2;]Learn to play the whistle, there will be many other benefits.
good luck.
It can be hard to 'give up' something when you may have spent years or decades learning and 'perfecting' a skill. But we have to give it all up at the end. Fortunately you dont have to give up the fiddle. Yet! So action now may give you years more fiddling, while inaction and denial are the worst approaches.
As i suggest regularily, a focused, daily , approach to solving this issue is to be recommended. Every day.
# Posted on December 21st 2007 by jig
Re: Problems while playing fiddle...
The "I am not a doctor" disclaimer applies here; however, around sixteen months ago I was experiencing severe pain in both wrists, as well as stiffness in both hands and fingers. Some days the pain was unbearable, and I couldn't function: I couldn't write, I couldn't type, I couldn't drive, I couldn't even hold onto the bars on the bus if there weren't seats available. Now, I experience the occasional stiffness every now and again, but that's it, and it's getting better. What helped me:
1. I didn't cut down on the amount that I practiced, but every thirty minutes, or as soon as I felt pain or discomfort, whichever was less, I put my fiddle away and iced my wrists for twenty minutes.
2. I got flexible wrist braces, which I wear when I use the computer.
3. I learned to relax while playing. It's only in this past month that I became able to play with little enough tension that I can play for long periods at a stretch. Right now, it's my right wrist almost exclusively that gives me problems, but last year my left hand and fingers were troubling me too. I tried an exercise that I think one of the members here posted: bow the way you usually do, but with your left hand, touch your fingers to the string as lightly as possible. Your tone will be crap, of course, I credit this exercise in having me release my death grip on my fiddle, which I needed to do in order to learn vibrato.
4, which should be 1. I saw a doctor, who advised me on 1 and 2.
# Posted on December 21st 2007 by Tall, Dark, and Mysterious
Re: Problems while playing fiddle...
Actually learning vibrato is a good way to learn to relaxi your grip on the neck. Even if you rarely use vibrato in your playing, it's worth it for lossening up.
"C" mentioned the congenital issues in passing above. I agree with him that we bring most repetive stress problems on ourselves. But there are real conditions that contribute or even cause problems, too. One of these is the most common genetic disorder among people of Irish and Scottish descent, present in more than 25 percent of the population. It's called hemochromatosis--over absorption of iron. The excess iron causes stiff sore hands and finger, joint stiffness, arthritis, and a host of really serious problems (liver cancer, heart problems, diabetes, and so on) that are eventually fatal if the underlying iron issue isn't treated.
I have hemochromatosis. It's hereditary. There's a gene test to determine whether you have it. There are web sites that describe the disorder, its symptoms, and treatment. I always encourage anyone of "celtic" descent with stiff, sore hands, heart arrhythmias, fatigue, or elevated blood iron levels to ask their doctor about the possibility of hemochromatosis. Treatment (which is easy and relatively inexpensive) cured my stiff, sore hands and let me play fiddle to my fullest potential. It also saved me from certain liver cancer, diabetes, and other life-enders. My grandfather died of this at a young age. At 49, I've already outlived him. And my son, who's gene test came back positive, has started treatement at a very young age and will never have to worry about any of it.
Email me if you want more info.
# Posted on December 21st 2007 by Will CPT
Re: Problems while playing fiddle...
Yeah, actually it was learning vibrato that (in large part) allowed me to release tension in my left hand, not the other way around. For some reason, the incentive of avoiding injury was not sufficient for me to successfully will my left hand to loosen, but the incentive of learning vibrato did the trick.
# Posted on December 21st 2007 by Tall, Dark, and Mysterious
Re: Problems while playing fiddle...
Here is a link that might help. You need to have good posture and be relaxed to reduct the pain or injury.
http://www.julielyonn.com/handouts.healthy.shtml
# Posted on December 24th 2007 by Terry McKenna