Midway through playing piano at Mass tonight, my eyes were stinging with tears. The pain in my wrist was back. The sharp, searing pain of tendonitis, followed by the constant burn. It is a familiar pain and discomfort. One that I have fought for the past 15 years, and is the result of injury caused by something that brings me so much joy – playing piano.
My story is unfortunately not unique. In college I read a study where over 75% of the musicians they interviewed had an injury that interfered with their playing. My pain started in the early years of high school and was fairly mild. My hands would bother me off and on, but it wasn’t ever an issue and it never interfered with other activities. Continue reading “Secret Pain of a Musician”