Arm cramps!

[Moon Mouse]

HI! I'm so glad to have found this board!

I've been on the pipes for about 6 months (on the practice chanter for a year before that). Considering the limited time I have to practice, I'm making some good progress.

However, lately I've had problems with my forearms cramping up on me. I'm not sure if its simply that my practice time has expanded, since I'm working on new tunes on the practice chanter and older tunes on the pipes, or if my form has slipped somehow. My instructor says I tend to let the chanter move too far toward my fingertips on my lower hand, which makes me hyperextend my fingers on some of my doublings.

Any additional ideas, techniques, stretches, snake oil linements......

[Mitch Man]

If your chanter is sticking out and too far away,
then your putting a strain on your rists which
results in the numb forarms feeling.

Pull the chanter closer so you, this will allow
a more natural bend in your rist!

Hope this helps!

JM

[Aaron Rider]

Hi,

Some more ideas...

Stretching before practice is a good idea, anyway. Try some simple exersizes to loosen your arms and shoulders. Relax and go slowly.
Also, lately some of the "experts" are saying that cramps are a sign of dehydration, so drinking some extra water couldn't hurt, either.

--Aaron

[Moon Mouse]

Thanks, guys!

I tried repositioning my chanter, and it helped a lot. It also made me more aware of my tendancy to raise my drone shoulder.

I stretch after I practice, but I hadn't really thought about before playing. And as much as I slobber when I play (yea, gross I know, but true. I look like a big, red-faced hound. :rolleyes: ) dehydration is probably a problem as well.

[redhairedpiper]

Keep a good eye on that shoulder thing. It may be that your pipes are not set up properly for you. Check out the thread about the spacing between the drones. :wink:

[Richard Mao]

Hmmm...
If you have an instructor......

Then you should have been guided to good posture...or mistakes would have been pointed out... (head upright.... facing forward... mouthpiece laying easily in center of mouth... neither shoulder hitched...when gripping the chanter forearms parallel to ground (horizontal)... no break in either wrist... so the chanter is at the correct height vertically and hands meet on the chanter without either hyperextension (too far out from your body)or too close in...

And your bag and pipes should be well fitting... especially the bag not too big for you (your upper arm is squeezing the bag inward toward your body as opposed to down out from under your arm or your forearm is pressing against the bag causing numbness or cramps)

And your reeds set so that you blow easily without getting tension headaches... that could also manifest themselves as forearm cramps)

And you are playing easily without tension (if you can do scales and well memorized tunes for the same period of time without cramps... then your nervousness/uncertainty playing the newer lesser known tunes is creating the tension) and without gripping the chanter too tight while playing.

If none of the above applies... ask again... and the group can come up with other suggestions..

Life is 10% what happens to you, 90% how you react to it.
When you take control of your attitude, you take charge
of your life… Paraphrase Charles Swindoll

Richard Mao, The Peking Piper ( PekingPiper@mao.org )

Originally posted by Moon Mouse:
HI! I'm so glad to have found this board!

......My instructor says I tend to let the chanter move too far toward my fingertips on my lower hand, which makes me hyperextend my fingers on some of my doublings.

Any additional ideas, techniques, stretches, snake oil linements......

[Moon Mouse]

Yea, my instructor is always after me about my Quasimodo tendancies! And he makes me show my left thumb, to see if I have that tell-tale circle that says I've been gripping too tight. I'll ask him about my reeds when I see him next week.

Maybe for a couple of weeks, I'll focus less on getting through the tune at all costs, and focus on watching myself in the mirror and perfecting my posture and muscle tension (that is, lack thereof).

[Chris Lorince]

You might want to check where your bag is sitting on your arm. If you are playing more on yuor forearm rather than your bicep. Then you have to bend your wrist around the bag to get to the chanter.

Just a thought.
Chris Lorince :)

[BK Wynd]

Try a massage ( ya, this from a massage therapist :bleh: ). Many MT's will split their rate and jut do a half hour on your arms. this is heaven after a long day of, well, just about anything. Especially after a long day of piping.

[BK Wynd]

Oh, another thing I just remembered. Buy a bag of barley from the grocery store (a pound or 3 ought to do). then sew up a little fabric bag (my wife used an old flannel shirt) and put the uncooked barley in it. Keep it in the freezer and it's the best ice pack for small, akward areas that a regular ice pack would slip off of. you can also put it in the microwave for a minute and make a hot pack out of it. It's versatile and reusable. :thumb:
luck!
b

[pye-eyed piper]

what type of bag do you have. If canmore try a smaller size. Sometimes the synthetic bags are round and it presses on the arm and reduces blood flow to the point of pain (cramp). Think I read this in this forum. :shrug:

[Moon Mouse]

I just wanted to thank everybody for the great ideas.

I've really been working on holding my shoulders level. I moved the chanter closer in, and my instructor twisted the chanter clockwise a bit, so that my hand was extended a bit more. I've also been stretching before, during, and after practice. The cramping and numbness are almost completely gone. If I try to play a little too long, I'll get a bit of pain as my left hand starts gripping too hard. That's when I know its time to stop! Like my teacher says, you can't choke the notes out of the pipes!

Thanks again, everybody.

[Alison]

Well... I'm not a beginner and I had never had this problem until about three weeks ago. I just asked my teacher about it yesterday, so it was interesting I read this today.

I know my pipes are tied in well and properly and I know I am gripping the amount I need to, not more or less. But I still have problems with my left arm cramping up. Why after seven years is this a problem? I'm playing more than ever, most importantly, without taking breaks.

So anyway, my advice:
1. Massage therapist, I tell ya, my teacher, not a therapist by any means, massaged my arm for maybe three minutes and it helped so much!
2. Stretch, stretch, stretch. Helps with arms, back, and anything else that might hurt while piping. I recoment stretcing in the morning and again before you play.
3. Watch yourself in a mirror. Perhaps the most important. You can get such a good idea of what quirky habits you have that might cause pain or just make you look goofy just by playing in front of a mirror once a week.

Just a few ideas,

Alison

[psychopiper]

Allison: Amen to the mirror thing! I've started taking a full length one to the park where I practice, and paying strict attention to form, drone stability, relaxation, etc. I've also found I play better when I watch myself. Being my own worst critic, I guess I'm afraid the image might start pointing and laughing when I bungle up repeatedly :D !

[Becky]

Along these lines, would anyone like to share some good arm stretches? I particularly have problems with the rotator cuff area caused, I think, by trying to chicken wing the bag rather than squeeze it with the elbow.