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.
However, an RSI is difficult to determine before its acute stage. There are no symptoms before it becomes serious. The sudden manifestation of pain, swelling or hardening and reduced movement do not have prior warning and the musician is not going to realize that they are causing the injury. Once it has reached the acute stage, it takes a long time for an RSI to recover. Practise and performance then become much more difficult or even impossible.
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 arrangement makes the extensive rotational movement by the hand possible. But there is a problem associated with this where the hand is constantly used for a specific motion or activity. The ligaments between the carpals sometimes become swollen and painful, and this limits the movement of the hand.
The technique of violin playing places the violinist at a heightened risk of RSI in their wrist. A ligament cannot be stretched or alter its shape, like muscles and tendons can. Accumulated stress can therefore cause an injury to it. Ligaments have poor circulation, so they take a long time to heal or grow. This is also because their structure is extremely tough, much more so than other tissues. Tendinitis is the name of the condition that arises where a tendon is inflamed. This, too, is not rare among musicians, and not only those who specialize in the violin.
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.
However, an RSI is difficult to determine before its acute stage. There are no symptoms before it becomes serious. The sudden manifestation of pain, swelling or hardening and reduced movement do not have prior warning and the musician is not going to realize that they are causing the injury. Once it has reached the acute stage, it takes a long time for an RSI to recover. Practise and performance then become much more difficult or even impossible.
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 arrangement makes the extensive rotational movement by the hand possible. But there is a problem associated with this where the hand is constantly used for a specific motion or activity. The ligaments between the carpals sometimes become swollen and painful, and this limits the movement of the hand.
The technique of violin playing places the violinist at a heightened risk of RSI in their wrist. A ligament cannot be stretched or alter its shape, like muscles and tendons can. Accumulated stress can therefore cause an injury to it. Ligaments have poor circulation, so they take a long time to heal or grow. This is also because their structure is extremely tough, much more so than other tissues. Tendinitis is the name of the condition that arises where a tendon is inflamed. This, too, is not rare among musicians, and not only those who specialize in the violin.
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.
