johnjohn320
Diamond Member
Not really a big deal in the scheme of things, but something that's been at the forefront of my mind for awhile.
I'm a pianist. It's my current job, and I'm pursuing my degree in piano performance to make it a career.
For those who may have missed earlier posts, I began to experience a nasty pain my left hand, particularly during and following playing. I got it checked out and was quickly diagnosed with tendonitis. Pain in the ass, but not uncommon at all. Just have to rest it for awhile, take lots of advil, ice, and put it in a splint until it heals. This has worked in some senses, the pain seems to be fading.
BUT lately my second finger on that hand has been "tingling," having sporadic, short moments of going numb. This just started yesterday. That's not good-it's a sign of carpal tunnel. The doctor was rather quick to diagnose me with tendonitis; she could have been wrong. I'm going to the health center tomorrow to get a (more thorough) re-diagnosis, and possibly an electrode test for CTS.
If it is carpal tunnel, this could be bad news for me...🙁 Musicians rarely recover from the surgery enough to play professionally again. I'm hoping it's just my tendonitis acting up, but we'll see.
My girlfriend proposed another possibility (no idea of any validity it may or may not have): I have several cysts (or at least, some sort of hard lumps) in several parts of my arm, which link muscles to my tendons (a place on the back of my forearm near the elbow, middle of the forearm, underside of arm near wrist, etc). She had the idea that maybe those have something to do with it-pinching a nerve, maybe? (I often have lots of cysts, just runs in my family).
Sigh...I hope my future career isn't going down the tubes...
[/melodrama]
update:Well, they did some simple tests and concluded it's "most likely not" CTS. *somewhat sigh of relief*
BUT they admitted they can't explain the numbness. I'm beginning physical therapy tomorrow, maybe something will pop up there.
I'm a pianist. It's my current job, and I'm pursuing my degree in piano performance to make it a career.
For those who may have missed earlier posts, I began to experience a nasty pain my left hand, particularly during and following playing. I got it checked out and was quickly diagnosed with tendonitis. Pain in the ass, but not uncommon at all. Just have to rest it for awhile, take lots of advil, ice, and put it in a splint until it heals. This has worked in some senses, the pain seems to be fading.
BUT lately my second finger on that hand has been "tingling," having sporadic, short moments of going numb. This just started yesterday. That's not good-it's a sign of carpal tunnel. The doctor was rather quick to diagnose me with tendonitis; she could have been wrong. I'm going to the health center tomorrow to get a (more thorough) re-diagnosis, and possibly an electrode test for CTS.
If it is carpal tunnel, this could be bad news for me...🙁 Musicians rarely recover from the surgery enough to play professionally again. I'm hoping it's just my tendonitis acting up, but we'll see.
My girlfriend proposed another possibility (no idea of any validity it may or may not have): I have several cysts (or at least, some sort of hard lumps) in several parts of my arm, which link muscles to my tendons (a place on the back of my forearm near the elbow, middle of the forearm, underside of arm near wrist, etc). She had the idea that maybe those have something to do with it-pinching a nerve, maybe? (I often have lots of cysts, just runs in my family).
Sigh...I hope my future career isn't going down the tubes...
[/melodrama]
update:Well, they did some simple tests and concluded it's "most likely not" CTS. *somewhat sigh of relief*
BUT they admitted they can't explain the numbness. I'm beginning physical therapy tomorrow, maybe something will pop up there.
