[einarabelc5]

Hi,

I've been reading the threads and for the past 2 weeks I've been seeing comment's/complaints on pain/injuries caused by drumming.

I decided to create a thread related to these issues.

First of all for those who don't know let me tell you that I come from a world of computing there Repetitive Strain Injuries also know as RSI are very common. It took me 2 years of research, a lot of frustrated doctor visits and contacting a large group of people to come to a point where I can maintain myself.
Drumming is also a repetitive activity and so incurs int he same risks. Therefore I decided to create this thread.

Feel free to post any information regarding drummer's maintenance and pain relief and recovery.

For starters I found this site:

http://www.drummershealth.com/

That has valid information on drumming injuries.

Also, the book that has helped me the most:
http://www.amazon.co...s/dp/0965510999

That applies to any form of RSI.

Furthermore there's an invaluable system for people that "sit still" called Alexander Technique which teaches you to become aware of your posture and keep your muscles relaxed in a natural position:

http://www.alexandertechnique.com/

[AN0NYM0US]

just before i dropped a stick while playing and hit my head on the hi hat when i leaned down to pick it up

[TheYonderGod]

 AN0NYM0US, on 03 December 2011 - 05:54 PM, said:

just before i dropped a stick while playing and hit my head on the hi hat when i leaned down to pick it up

Just say you did it on purpose, you were trying to keep playing while picking it up

[einarabelc5]

 AN0NYM0US, on 03 December 2011 - 05:54 PM, said:

just before i dropped a stick while playing and hit my head on the hi hat when i leaned down to pick it up

You need an eye doctor, or to jump out of a plane....

[GaryM95]

Lol ^

[TheYonderGod]

Is it normal to have wrist pain after practicing for 4-5 hours? My band finally had practice today for the first time together in months, and we were having so much fun that time flew and before we knew it, we had been playing for almost 5 hours. I was also playing harder than normal because my guitarist just got a new amp and he thinks he needs to turn it up all the way just because he can
I had no pain or discomfort at all while we were playing or until an hour or 2 after I got home, but now they hurt realllly bad. The pain is a burning pain like when you run for a long time, so it's like my muscles just got really tired, that kind of pain. But I've heard that you should never feel any pain at all from drumming so I am concerned. Is it normal to have this kind of pain after playing for a long time?
Also while typing this, maybe it's just because I am thinking about it, the pain has spread throughout my arms up to my elbows.

[einarabelc5]

 TheYonderGod, on 06 December 2011 - 02:59 AM, said:

Is it normal to have wrist pain after practicing for 4-5 hours? My band finally had practice today for the first time together in months, and we were having so much fun that time flew and before we knew it, we had been playing for almost 5 hours. I was also playing harder than normal because my guitarist just got a new amp and he thinks he needs to turn it up all the way just because he can
I had no pain or discomfort at all while we were playing or until an hour or 2 after I got home, but now they hurt realllly bad. The pain is a burning pain like when you run for a long time, so it's like my muscles just got really tired, that kind of pain. But I've heard that you should never feel any pain at all from drumming so I am concerned. Is it normal to have this kind of pain after playing for a long time?
Also while typing this, maybe it's just because I am thinking about it, the pain has spread throughout my arms up to my elbows.

In my own experience I've only felt that kind of sensation WHEN DOING THE BURN EXERCISE. That exercise is designed to anaerobically work your muscles and make them stronger. AND IT REQUIRES YOU TO PLAY TENSE, WHICH IS THE CONTRARY OF WHAT YOU WANNA DO, AS AN EXCEPTION. Do you feel any pain in the muscles that move your fingers (in the upper part of your forearm, close to the elbow? Can you feel each muscle in the forearm and tell where they're just by moving your arm?

What you said (about playing hard) might have been you tensing while playing. You probably wanna avoid that kind of thing because it might cause inflammation and breakage of your muscles fiber. Then connective tissue might get in to try and heal that and it might end up compressing your nerves (either ulnar or carpal). I suggest you start breaking it down by doing light movement without any excessive weight(move your wrist slowly, relax your hands, do the hand stretching very slowly and put ice on until you feel numb, then stop (7 to 10 min).

Probably someone with more experience than me might leverage it to tell you how they overcame the same or a very similar problem. All I can tell you is that a technique change was required on my part to help heal my elbow problem and I wasn't playing more than 2 hours. I also did everything I recommended to you to heal properly. Read the sites I posted, that should tell you what can be the cause and how to deal with it.

This post has been edited by einarabelc5: 06 December 2011 - 12:38 PM

[GaryM95]

I'm getting small bruises on my thumb and adjacent finger when doing the finger technique =.= but I keep going through it, been doing it straight for 4.5hrs xD

[einarabelc5]

 GaryM95, on 06 December 2011 - 01:41 PM, said:

I'm getting small bruises on my thumb and adjacent finger when doing the finger technique =.= but I keep going through it, been doing it straight for 4.5hrs xD

Check Dom Famularo's videos link I posted in the Tense Left Hand thread. That's prolly a sign of bad technique.

[GaryM95]

It's not as bad as it sounds_._ it's just a long period of time>~> no pain no gain o.O

[einarabelc5]

 GaryM95, on 06 December 2011 - 01:50 PM, said:

It's not as bad as it sounds_._ it's just a long period of time>~> no pain no gain o.O

If you watch Dom Famularo's videos Jim Chaping (Moeller's student and Michalkow's and Famularo's teacher) says that you should shoot someone who says that. If you want to drum for the rest of your life you should be relaxed and get no blisters and other sings of stress, period. He was 84 when he did those videos and can still play like hell.
If you watch further you'll realize that's how Moeller started his research. By watching Cival war drummers that were 70 and 80 years old play as if they were teenagers.

[GaryM95]

Where are these vids O:?

[einarabelc5]

Tensing Let Arm Thread under General Drumming. Look for the keyword Famularo.

You'll need Quicktime.

[TheYonderGod]

 einarabelc5, on 06 December 2011 - 12:34 PM, said:

In my own experience I've only felt that kind of sensation WHEN DOING THE BURN EXERCISE. That exercise is designed to anaerobically work your muscles and make them stronger. AND IT REQUIRES YOU TO PLAY TENSE, WHICH IS THE CONTRARY OF WHAT YOU WANNA DO, AS AN EXCEPTION. Do you feel any pain in the muscles that move your fingers (in the upper part of your forearm, close to the elbow? Can you feel each muscle in the forearm and tell where they're just by moving your arm?

What you said (about playing hard) might have been you tensing while playing. You probably wanna avoid that kind of thing because it might cause inflammation and breakage of your muscles fiber. Then connective tissue might get in to try and heal that and it might end up compressing your nerves (either ulnar or carpal). I suggest you start breaking it down by doing light movement without any excessive weight(move your wrist slowly, relax your hands, do the hand stretching very slowly and put ice on until you feel numb, then stop (7 to 10 min).

Probably someone with more experience than me might leverage it to tell you how they overcame the same or a very similar problem. All I can tell you is that a technique change was required on my part to help heal my elbow problem and I wasn't playing more than 2 hours. I also did everything I recommended to you to heal properly. Read the sites I posted, that should tell you what can be the cause and how to deal with it.

Thanks for the tips. I woke up this morning and they aren't hurting anymore. So I'm just going to take it easy for a little bit, and make my guitarist turn his amp down next time.

[einarabelc5]

 TheYonderGod, on 06 December 2011 - 05:39 PM, said:

Thanks for the tips. I woke up this morning and they aren't hurting anymore. So I'm just going to take it easy for a little bit, and make my guitarist turn his amp down next time.

This is your chance to flex and slowly stretch those muscles. That they don't hurt it means inflamation has lowered but you want to make sure the scarring is good and leaves no bad traces, that's what ice/stretches/light movement is for.

Good Luck!

[osirus211]

 einarabelc5, on 06 December 2011 - 05:51 PM, said:

that's what ice/stretches/light movement is for.

Agreed, I bought an icepack for my elbow after I experienced a little bit of pain. I just wear in the evenings after drumming for 20 minutes or so.

[einarabelc5]

 osirus211, on 13 December 2011 - 02:18 PM, said:

Agreed, I bought an icepack for my elbow after I experienced a little bit of pain. I just wear in the evenings after drumming for 20 minutes or so.

I stopped having pain after reviewing the Famularo videos on relaxation, wrist and free stroke I watch myself constantly now. Also I swtiched back from Vic 5b to Rock sticks, they ALL broke the foam on my ekit but the ROCk sped up the process from 2 weeks to 1 day

[Allen]

I have a similar issue with my right elbow and I'm almost certain that it is due to bad technique such as moving my arm too much as opposed to the wrist and fingers, I know whenever I catch myself doing that I try and do it with more wrist/fingers upon which the pain seems to go away as I can tell the next day. I also have another issue that I'm curious to see if anyone else has experienced it, I have pain in my back, right between my shoulder blades, it feels like I've been hit at the spine in that area....do you think this is also due to the arm movement?

Thanks!

[Poco Askew]

 Allen, on 14 December 2011 - 06:44 AM, said:

I have pain in my back, right between my shoulder blades, it feels like I've been hit at the spine in that area....do you think this is also due to the arm movement?

Could be. It could also be your posture while sitting at the kit. You might try adjusting your throne height and/or position along with placement of your kit pieces.

I assume all of you with wrist or elbow pain are playing acoustic kits. I had a problem with my Yamaha E-kit because of the rubber pads. The pads used to kill my wrists because of the harder surface. I also sometimes had numb fingers which resulted from a pinched nerve due to a grip that was too tight. I tried the Zildjian Anti-Vibe sticks and I tried the Anti-Vibe Drum Shox, but they didn't help. When I switched to mesh heads, the problems vanished.

Obviously, if you hit hard, you are more likely to have problems. You also miss out on one of the critical aspects to good drumming (IMO) - dynamics. Play a little softer so you have a complete range of dynamics available to you and you'll save your body (and kit) in the process.

[Allen]

Makes perfect sense to me...

Thanks Poco, as always your opinion is highly valued here....

 Poco Askew, on 14 December 2011 - 07:41 AM, said:

Could be. It could also be your posture while sitting at the kit. You might try adjusting your throne height and/or position along with placement of your kit pieces.

I assume all of you with wrist or elbow pain are playing acoustic kits. I had a problem with my Yamaha E-kit because of the rubber pads. The pads used to kill my wrists because of the harder surface. I also sometimes had numb fingers which resulted from a pinched nerve due to a grip that was too tight. I tried the Zildjian Anti-Vibe sticks and I tried the Anti-Vibe Drum Shox, but they didn't help. When I switched to mesh heads, the problems vanished.

Obviously, if you hit hard, you are more likely to have problems. You also miss out on one of the critical aspects to good drumming (IMO) - dynamics. Play a little softer so you have a complete range of dynamics available to you and you'll save your body (and kit) in the process.