Well, last month 15 years of practicing finally caught up with me. My left wrist was killing me, as was my lower back and shoulders. I was surprised by this, because I had never experienced any “musician related” pain except for the first 2 weeks of my guitar education (ouch those blisters hurt!!). After a few weeks, I finally called my good friend Park, who happens to be the best massage therapist and carpal tunnel specialist I have every met. After my session, I felt new again. The pain in my wrist was gone and I knew that I needed to take better care of myself. I made an appointment with Park for next month, and I have made a committment to see him once a month and to also do a little yoga every single day to keep my muscles less likely to ache after practicing.
I thought that this would be a good topic for the blog, because it’s so easy to let things like massage and a yoga class get thrown in the “special treat” pile. I’m trying to change my thinking about that, because the fact is that we need to do things that keep up healthy enough to continue playing music into our old age. When I think about the possibility of ignoring my body’s need for excercise, stretching and massage, the possibility of losing my skills comes up. I can’t think of anything worse than losing the ability to play music, so that sounds like a good reason to make massage a priority to me.
I wanted to pass the message onto other teachers. Prevention is the best way to avoid carpal tunnel and other injuries that make practcing and performing so uncomfortable. Remember, once you have carpal tunnel syndrome, it is very difficult heal. Prevention is best, and I hope we all do what we need to do to prevent it. If you have any other tips on avoiding muscle strain and other musician related injuries, pleas epost them here.
About the Author
When I was just a college Junior, I started teaching private guitar lessons in order to support myself. I was in a rock band, writing songs and performing on a regular basis, and I certainly did not plan on becoming a teacher. My plan was to graduate, get a job in social work, and just continue writing songs. Teaching surprised me. I ended up falling in love with the act of guiding a student from point a to point b. To watch someone go from knowing nothing about a subject, to simply performing in a recital, is such an awesome thing. I ended up scrapping that social work idea. I was doing more good as a teacher, minus the intense stress that most social workers go home with. I currently have a busy program that teaches private guitar, piano, and voice lessons in Los Angeles homes. I am also the creator of the music and service blog 38 Ways to Change the World Through Music.
by New York Massage — Mon Jul 13, 2009 @ 3:29 pm