A sprained wrist and a gig
Just as things where going really well I have sprained my left wrist and thumb. That means I’ll miss the audition in the Suth Jutland Symphony I’ve been preparing for, and quite possibly I will also have to cancel an orchestral gig next week – the first in a month. It has reminded me of two things; First how vulnerable you really are as a musician, how quickly you can loose the ability to do what you have spent a lifetime learning, and secondly how easy it is – especially as a freelancer – to give in to the pressure of the business and begin playing too soon after an injury. Even though this is just a sprain that will heal again, I once again find myself in the uncomfortable position of weighing the pros and cons of doing the gig next week, even if I still have pain: What will the orchestra manager think, especially given my recent year long absense due to the shoulder injury? My colleagues? Is this going to affect my chances of getting work there in the future? And then there’s the fact that I need the money! Put all this up against the fact that if you begin using your wrist too soon after a sprain and you will prolong the healing time and risk chronic injury. The answer should be obvious, but it is really tempting to just plough ahead and start learning the music for the gig.
So what exactly is a wrist sprain and why do they usually take so long to heal? I’ve put together a little info here….
The full story
This is the full account of my injury survival story:
I am one of the lucky few that has made a full recovery from a near career ending shoulder injury. It took 2 years of intense, daily physiotherapy, economic hardship, depression, loss of work and a whole lot of pain, but I made it. I also learned a lot in the process and I am now determined to help others avoid the problems that I’ve had. Here is my story:
In the fall of 2005 I was living in Sweden and working full time in the Malmö Opera Orchestra, when I started experiencing a slight, but relentless pain on the front of my left shoulder when playing. (more…)
Staying busy
Ok, so work on the site has slowed down, but for good reasons; I’ve been busy doing what I’m supposed to do, namely play the violin for a living. Having been out for almost 2 years with the injury, starting from the bottom of the freelance scene has proven harder than I imagined, but now gigs are slowly starting to come my way. I just spent 2 weeks working in the South Jutland Symphony, one of the 5 regional symphony orchestras in Denmark. This past weekend I played Brahms Requiem in a church in Sweden, and this saturday I am going back to Sweden to play in the Malmö Symphony Orchestra in a stadium concert (yes!) with Jose Carreras (yep, one of the 3 three tenors). It’s nice to finally be a struggling musician again – before I was just struggling.
Other upcoming projects include an interview and article concerning my injury and return to playing in “Musikeren“, THE magazine for professional musicians in Denmark. They (and particularly the editor) have (more…)
Speaking
“Anatomy and Injury Prevention for Musicians”
Intended for professional orchestras and university level music schools and academies, “Anatomy and Injury Prevention for Musicians” is the presentation I gave at Banff Centre in Canada in 2008 in an attempt to share the knowledge I gained in dealing with my own injury. Throughout my career I have had various teachers and colleagues tell me that I should be careful with my posture – but no one told why it was important or just how spectacularly bad things could go. Had someone sat me down with an anatomy book and explained to me how the body works and why good posture and strength is important, I would probably have been much more vigilant about these things. This is exactly the kind of information I tried to pass on with this presentation. Performance related injuries for musicians are very common, but it doesn’t have to be that way. I believe that with a little basic knowledge of anatomy, posture (more…)