Friday, April 24, 2015

Why A Violin Wrist Aid Is Important In Guarding Against Injury

By Stella Gay


The violin places the wrist at sustained pressure, and this can result in wrist injury. This is why some violinists use a violin wrist aid in an attempt to prevent these injuries and make their playing easier.

Repetitive strain injuries (RSI) are common among musicians. This applies to practically any instrument. An RSI is caused when the same movement is performed many times, over a prolonged period, not merely hours but weeks or months. The cumulative stress to the soft tissue (i. E. Muscles, tendons and ligaments) can result in a painful and incapacitating injury over time.

An RSI is insidious in its development. It does not exhibit symptoms until its acute onset. Sudden swollen appearance, pain and limited motion cannot be anticipated in advance, and the musician typically is not aware that the injury is developing. However, an injury that takes so long to arise also takes a long time to heal. This can suspend all musical practise and performance for a protracted period.

The wrist is an obvious risk area for RSIs. If one examines the wrist's internal architecture, it is plain to see why. The two forearm bones join the wrist on one side, while the bones of the palm (the metacarpals) attach to it on the other. In the wrist itself, the carpal bones are assembled in a tight, interlocking formation, attached to each other by ligaments. These bones are irregular in shape.

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.

Once RSI sets in, there is no possibility of the musician continuing in their usual practise or performance activities. They have limited movement in the injured area and they experience pain when they try to play their instrument.

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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