A PAIN IN THE THUMB
I went to the Cleveland Clinic for tendinitis, caused by playing clarinet too much. The pain started in my right thumb and then went all over. The doc told me to bring my clarinet to the appointment. He was a violinist and regular attendee of the Marlboro Music Festival. He was a neurologist with a side hustle — music-related injuries.
The doc quickly shipped me off to a PT — the real fix-it person at hospitals. The PT was good. He said, “You can’t stop playing. You’re a professional.” Right on.
But my thumb was not good (although it did eventually get better in a year and a half). I don’t know why it got better. I even drove down to Cincinnati to see a doc there who specializes in clarinet players. You do extreme things when, say, lifting a coffee cup feels like a bag of potatoes.
Cincinnati didn’t help. Musculoskeletal problems — they’re hard to put a finger on. An older friend said, “Just wait until your internal organs go.”
Waiting . . .
1 comment
I can relate. I played the piano for decades, and majored in it at the School of Music at Syracuse Univ. my Sophomore year. In recent years I got out of the habit of playing much (though I’ve got a great piano, great antique piano lamp, and plenty of music)1, and then I fractured my wrist in Feb., 2023 but I realized a few months ago it was very difficult for me to play all but the simplest music. I asked about related therapy and was assigned a Hand Therapist. I also have the Arthritis there but with a Cortisone injection (I was only getting them in the shoulder) and sometime use of a lotion I can definitely sense an improvement!
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