Carpal tunnel syndrome

[Fred Sturm]

There have been several good responses to this already. I have a few
thoughts to add.
1) This is a physical injury, and it is job related. As an employee of a
state institution, there should be help available, and compensation
should it come to that. One of the benefits of being employed rather
than self-employed. I would look for the possible help (in terms of
evaluation and physical therapy) through human resources.
2) Pounding keys can be done in more than one way. It is not necessary
to crash through to the keybed to achieve the desired result. As a
perfoming pianist, I have worked through this problem from another
perspective, and have found many techniques for producing volume without
damage to the body. I'll just outline one, which should be sufficient.
Develop a technique of "dropping the arm," having a stiff finger (or two
fingers held together), but a supple wrist. The arm serves to create
acceleration. The stiff finger conveys that to the key. The supple wrist
acts as a shock absorber, giving (flexing) on impact. It's something
like learning to catch a baseball. You don't hold your hand and arm
stiff. The ball will bounce out and your arm and hand will get hurt. You
let the hand/wrist/arm "give," and move back with the ball.
3) I strongly urge avoiding extreme pounding, both for the sake of the
body and to avoid premature wear on the piano. A firm, forte blow is
quite adequate, in conjunction with a creative hammer technique. Use
"flagpoling" and "pin twist" to coax string past friction points in
either direction, and to create a condition of stability. Jerking
movement rather than steady pull also helps to overcome
inertia/friction. In my experience, excessive pounding can often
introduce instability rather than eliminate it, by pulling more string
into the speaking length, making the speaking length lower tensioned
than waste areas.

	Bottom line: take it very, very seriously. You've only got one body.
Listen to it, feel it, work with it. Good luck!
Fred Sturm, RPT
University of New Mexico
Mary Smith wrote:
> 
> Dear List,
> 
> I have a somewhat medical (though tuning-related) question for y'all.
> I am developing some pretty serious aches and pains in my left
> shoulder/arm/wrist. Also, tingling and numbness in my left fingers. I
> had a pretty bad pinched nerve in my neck throughout January (left
> side), but that has been helped tremendously by a physical therapist.
> Now this darn arm and wrist stuff flares up every time I tune a
> piano! I have switched to using a "bonker", instead of my fingers,
> for test blows. (The "bonker" is a piano hammer set in a short,
> papier-mache handle, that I can cradle in my left palm. It takes most
> of the impact of a test blow, though I still feel some shock in my
> wrist.) The bonker, plus some new stretches my physical therapist
> gave me, are helping the situation, but I am wondering if there is
> anything else I can do. Have other folks had experience with this
> problem? Any suggestions? Growing old is such a bitch, but
> considering the alternative, I guess I'm stuck! Thanks in advance...
> 
> MarySmith@maill.utexas.edu