Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Pianist Corner over praticed and hurt back, etc

Hello, i over practiced a few months ago and caused some stress to my back, shoulders and neck. im on muscle relaxants and lidoderm patches. have stopped playing the piano. has anyone else gone through this and can you give me any advice? Thanks

What kind of muscle relaxants? calanopin(sp)?
Those are great! never heard of these pathches though. is it a pain patch?

That's a bummer you had to take a break. You seem fragile. Here's some advice. don't drink if you're bummed and on muscle relaxers and don't play leap frog with a unicorn.

Ow!

I was feeling the back thing when I started. I was tensing up too much while I was playing. I've started relaxing as I play while using good posture and it has helped immensely. I remind myself I'm doing this to relax and have fun.

I do much better using a chair with a back than a bench. I'm 52 and have arthritis but can still manage about three hours at a stretch. It helps to be able to lean back from time to time.

Frycek :

"Slow down and do it right." says your tag-line. Do you think with your condition (in any condition, good or bad, by the way) that doing three hours at a stretch is doing it right? I should think that anyone, young or old, frail or hale, should take breaks at least every hour to alleviate both physical and mental fatigue.

It seems to me that particularly young, enthusiastic and often self-torturing and self-abusing young people should be careful of long, unbroken practice sessions. While such students may not feel any immediate negative effects, the long-term effects could be harmful, painful and may stop one eventually from playing the piano at all. I know; it happened to a friend of mine.

Regards,

Actually, after about 3 hours is when I start to feel I'm overdoing it when I start fresh, like on a lovely lazy Saturday morning. I also get up to make myself a capuccino or feed the dogs. I'm not timing myself and I'm not rigid. That's just how it works out. The three actual hours of practice usually takes about four hours. The time just flies by when I'm playing. I'm not into pain. When I really start to tire I stop. After spending a day with a microscope that can be after as little as an hour in the evenings.

You might read "The Art of Practicing" by Madeline Bruser. It's specifically about how to practice while minimizing physical and emotional stress.

I try to be very conscious of stress and strain when practicing and stop if it hurts, but also make a distinction between tired muscles and other types of strain which are more likely to lead to injury. Lots of hands separate practice that lets you focus on the best way for each hand to play a part.

Get plenty of other physical excercise including back excercises.

Learn to CONSCIOUSLY relax. This takes some practice.

your posture at piano always matters. you have to watch out if your back maintains straight, even if you're in the middle of playing a really hard piece. keeping your abdomen tight will also help maintaining your posture/straight back, as when you're dancing or doing push-ups, believe it or not. you'd get hurt if you never watch out those things! also, i don't think it's about over practice but how you practice.

@Gwyn -

Ouch! Take it easy! What did they put you on for muscle relaxants? I'm on Baclofen, which is a GABA inhibitor. This is used to control muscle spasms and cramps. I was on Klonopin, but the stuff made me so dizzy I coudn't even see sideways. Mine is for Dystonia, and is causing other issues like memory loss, confusion, and possibly parathesias.

@Frycek -

You might want to try a different bench or chair. I had a bench that was too high for me, and I had to bend over a bit when I played.

This used to cause pain in my upper back and shoulders. I ended up swapping for an old fashioned wooden chair that someone was throwing away. (It turned out to be an antique rock maple chair in excellent condition, which was a good find ).

Anyway take it slow and stop as soon as you feel any pain.

John

I hold to the view that piano playing is as
much a physical (almost athletic) activity as
it is a mental one. You're apparently a
piano teacher and as such must have done
a lot of playing over the years, so it must
be a shock to suddenly become incapacitated
like this from playing, but I don't see this
as unusual. When you're in high school and
college, you're young and your body is supple,
and like a high school or college athlete this
enables you to get away with a lot of what
is actually abuse to your body; but as you
get older and less active the body becomes
less supple, and then the yrs. of abuse
tend to catch up with you.

These physical problems you describe sound
exactly like the kind of thing that can happen
when you get a little older and the yrs.
of abuse come home to roost. Usually these
problems have one common cause: your posture
as you sit and play. We tend to want to
sit ramrod straight at the piano because that's
the way we think the ideal concert pianist sits
and it's the way that a lot of teachers and
books say to sit, and when we're young and
supple we can get away with this--even if it
happens to be unsuited to our particular body.
There are a lot of people who just cannot
sit like this and play, due to the particular
way their spine is shaped--the way that these
people must sit is slightly hunched forward.
However, when you're young you can get away
with forcing yourself to sit ramrod straight,
even if it is going against the way your
body is constructed--the suppleness of youth
will enable this.

But some yrs. out of school there will come
a time when sitting against the grain of
your physique will no longer be tolerated
by your body as its suppleness decreases with
age, and the result will be the kind of
physical problems you describe--these all
originate in pinched nerves or blood vessels
that are are being crushed by forcing your
spine into a position that is abnormal for
it. The simple solution to this is to
sit slightly hunched forward as you play
(or you might have to experiment to find
just the right position, which might
be something slightly skewed to one side--
but in any case it is something other
than ramrod straight). This will
allow your spine to assume the
shape that is normal for your physique and
take the pressure off of the nerves and
blood vessels that branch off from your
spine.

Check out yoga exercises for back problems.

I've used them and they DO work! Importantly, there are no side effects and, after you learn them, there is no cost involved.

We aren't talking about twisting like a pretzel or standing on your head. The exercises would be extremely simple. One that I do every day is called the "child's pose."

Thanks so much everyone! i cant type more because its bothering my back too! John im taking flexeril

If typing is bothering your back, then it may be as I suspected... you're using the wrong muscles. Your back is about as involved as your left toe when it comes to typing. This sounds to me like a technique issue, which can easily be cleared up one of many different ways, but far be it from me to preach what they are. I'm sure you can recognize them on your own.

I was on those once due to being hit in the neck, I hate to say it... by a 7-iron during my one and only one golf lesson. I was supposed to take them three times a day. I took them once a day and slept the rest. I hope you feel better soon. I guess they were either too strong, or I don't take meds very well.

I read you're a teacher, and I think that may have something to do with it. The reason why I'm saying this is that as a teacher, you need to reach and play at a different angle then what is done normally. This will not only put a strain on your back, but also your neck as well.
Please rest up and maybe go for some physiotherapy afterwards.

John

I get pains in my back too. I move my bench up, I move my bench down. My arms do not go straight toward the keyboard like you see in pictures or maybe in yourself. My forearms are shorter than the other part (from the shoulders).

So, my arms go downward toward the keys. Can anyone picture this?

ILM

Yes. Sit lower/closer (depending on which part of the arm you were talking about).

Gwyn,
So sorry to hear about your current stress. You write:
Over practiced? It sounds like you tried to lift the piano off the floor by yourself! Hee hee. (just kidding, of course.)

In my honest opinion, your current problems do not sound like they stem from piano practice, but they sure are intruding on your practice time. Are you experiencing a lot of stress (tell me about it!)? These things can intrude on your practice if you are not aware of them. Try to see if there are undue stresses influencing your practice time.

I'm just curious, what level of playing are you at?

------
Different subject:

I know where you are coming from with that statement, but it couldn't be further from the truth. Your back is so important, it is the "backbone" (so to speak) of everything you do. And it can have freedom ... or not.
Some suggested reading...
As has already been mentioned: "The Art of Practicing" by Madeline Bruser
"What Every Pianist Needs To Know About The Body" by Thomas Mark
"Just Play Naturally" by Vivien Mackie
"Indirect Procedures" by Pedro de Alcantara
"A New Approach To The Alexander Technique" by Glen Park
And although her books are probably the most difficult of all western literature to read:
"Abby Whiteside On Piano Playing"


Gwyn,
I hope it all turns out alright for you. Rest up. Relax. Take some time off. Feel the earth under your feet.