Swollen and aching thumb and hands

[balfour-knight]

Lily, thanks for your kind words and your friendship! Sorry for the skipping, unprofessional recording on those little videos. Someone at the concert made those recordings with a smartphone and posted them. At least you can see Cherie and how she fits me, ha, ha! Since she sounds good even on those videos, you can imagine what she sounds like in person–just unbelievable! I don’t play any other harps than the two I own now, because other harps can’t “hold a candle” to them, ha, ha!

Have a good night,
Balfour and Carol Lynn

[Elizabeth Volpé Bligh]

I got de Quervain’s in both thumbs recently, too. I am doing a minimum amount of practising while I wait for it to heal. Stretch and massage the arm arm above the wrist, not in the area where it’s painful.
This physiotherapist on YouTube helped a lot!

[Lily-White]

Hi Elizabeth,

and thank you!

My hands just didn’t get better, there were underlying issues. I have abnormalities in the joints of my thumbs and some other issues. I am now working with a really good physio, she has specialized in musicians’ problems (among other things). She is helping me to find the right way to use my hands, in order not to hurt them. For playing, but for doing other things as well.

I am playing every day now, a little, really easy stuff, focusing on my body posture, my technique and my “extra challenges”. I would like to learn new techniques and go forward, but I’m enjoying playing anyway. I know now I wasn’t relaxed enough before and my technique could have been better. So I see this as a good investment for the future. I’m glad it came up at once, when I started playing the harp – even if it was because I overdid it… 😀 The right technique is so important from the very beginning. Time will tell how far I will get with the harp, but I’m optimistic and enjoying it anyway! 🙂

I hope your hands are getting better! My teacher and many of her her colleagues have had de Quervain’s at some point of their journey. By taking good care of their hands, exactly like you said, it has always passed.

– Lily

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