Graham English

Here’s the story. About two years ago I was at a Halloween party and it was off the hook. The dance floor was packed and I was tearing it up. You know, back in the day, I was a pretty good break dancer. So when the dance circle formed, I was first to glide into the center and bust a move. I was poppin and lockin and then I dropped to the floor for some fancy footwork… where I busted more than a move. After I finished my floor work, I stood up and noticed something different about my hand. It took a second or two to comprehend what I was seeing because my thumb was pointing in the wrong direction. I had dislocated my thumb!

I popped my thumb back into place and grabbed some ice from the bar. There was no pain but it immediately began to swell. I couldn’t play the piano with my right hand for an entire month! A year later, I still didn’t have full mobility. Now, two years have gone by, and I’m fine but I can feel the scar tissue. I don’t want to see anything like this happen to you.

It goes without saying that your hands and fingers are vital to you. Protect your playing with these hand and finger safety tips.

Playing and Practicing Safety Tips

• Always warm up before you practice and play your instrument.
• Take lots of breaks from practicing your instrument to stretch and relax your hands and fingers.

Real Word Safety Tips

• Take time to identify potential hand and finger hazards like unprotected or faulty machinery, equipment and electricity.
• Use hand tools. Do not use your hand as a tool.
• Be careful around irritating substances like chemicals and corrosives. Use the appropriate hand protection.
• Be mindful that temperature extremes cause hand and finger stress.

Here’s a few more hand and finger safety resources:

• Tips for Left Handed Musicians
• Musicians and Injuries
• Musicians and Weight Training

Be careful out there!

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Tags: fingers, hands, Practice, tips

This entry was posted on Friday, November 10th, 2006 at 1:13 pm and is filed under Music Education, Prose. You can leave a comment if you follow my Living Room Rules. If not, you can leave a trackback from your own site.