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.
A repetitive strain injury (RSI) is not uncommon among musicians, and happens to players of practically any instrument. It happens when the same specific motion is repeated many times through a sustained period of time, such as weeks or even months. The accumulated effect on the area in use is that the soft tissue (ligaments, tendons and muscles) becomes swollen and painful, and loses movement ability.
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 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 temptation to any serious musician is to "play through the pain" or to "keep on practising". However, the reality is that an RSI, once manifested, can be aggravated through further repetition of the same activity, and if it is not given time to recover, it can become more serious or even permanent. Injured musicians should seek medical attention immediately, and be prepared to take rest periods in their practise schedule.
A repetitive strain injury (RSI) is not uncommon among musicians, and happens to players of practically any instrument. It happens when the same specific motion is repeated many times through a sustained period of time, such as weeks or even months. The accumulated effect on the area in use is that the soft tissue (ligaments, tendons and muscles) becomes swollen and painful, and loses movement ability.
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 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 temptation to any serious musician is to "play through the pain" or to "keep on practising". However, the reality is that an RSI, once manifested, can be aggravated through further repetition of the same activity, and if it is not given time to recover, it can become more serious or even permanent. Injured musicians should seek medical attention immediately, and be prepared to take rest periods in their practise schedule.
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