Is GUITAR Tendonitis the same as PIANO Tendonitis?

by Rhys Smith
(Perth, WA, Australia)

I am a professional pianist, and have recently experienced the symptoms you describe on your website... in BOTH my wrists/forearms.

About 6 months ago, I developed RSI in only my left hand as I was completing my final piano exams as part of my studies at WAAPA (West Australian Academy of Performing Arts).

After finishing all my exams, I abstained from regular piano practice for about a month or so. As discussed in your website, we humans tend to think that if we take time off from whatever activity caused us the symptoms, then it'll heal with time.

So, 7 months later into my professional music career and now I have tendonitis symptoms in both wrists/forearms. I noticed the onset of pain/muscle tightness in a short space of time - and this is why I'm convinced I've got an injury (RSI).

Days leading up to the injury, I started practicing a technical piano exercise that involved stretching the hands, however, NOT maintaining a state of relaxation in the muscles of the forearms.

In addition to increasing my dietary protein intake, magnesium, Vitamin B6, and Omega 3 (Krill Oil), I have been trying to treat my tendonitis by using both the "Ice Dipping" and the "Dixie Cup Ice Massage" methods separately and have found that I haven't completely reversed my problem yet. I have been doing this for a few weeks now.

I have also tried to limit my piano practice/performance during this period, so that when I am better again, I can return to practicing/playing piano 5 hours a day, as my profession demands.

What are your thoughts/suggestions?

Regards,
Rhys Smith



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Joshua Answers:

Hi Rhys.

Basically, yes, guitar tendonitis is the same as piano tendonitis, with slight variation.

Tendonitis is tendonitis, with some variation for specifics of different body parts/different repetitive action.

As you've learned, Rest doesn't fix Tendonitis.

And being a piano player, it's not particularly surprising that you have Wrist Tendonitis Symptoms.

A little nutritional deficiency, a little repetitive movement, hello Tendonitis!

It sounds like you already know how Tendonitis works. If not, see: See: What Is Tendonitis


Ice Dipping, as seen on the How To Reduce Inflammation page, doesn't fix anything per se, it just lowers pain levels and inflammation levels (and that does all sorts of great things).

Ultimately, my thoughts are that you need to do more self care. It's kind of like a tug of war...negative factors pulling in one direction, you adding positive factors to pull in the other direction.

If you don't do enough, and enough of the RIGHT stuff, then negative factors win at whatever level they're winning (mild, moderate, severe symptoms).


If you have the wrist tendonitis or guitar tendonitis ebooks, use the contact form and I'll help you fine tune what you're doing for better results.

Congratulations on advancing to professional level in your field. That's awesome.

Now, good news/bad news, you need to master how to keep your body/machine/instrument in good working shape.






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Joshua Tucker, B.A., C.M.T.
The Tendonitis Expert
www.TendonitisExpert.com