Posted by Rex Roeges on September 05, 2003 at 16:15:12:
In Reply to: Severe hand pains posted by Brandon Ostrom on September 05, 2003 at 12:11:54:
You may want to check and see if your hand is doing more work than just pressing down the valves. I have caught myself supporting the horn and working the valves all with my right hand, which causes undo stress. Also, you may want to check to see if you are tensing more muscles, in your right arm and shoulder, than you actually need to do the job. This is a common occurrence and can cause pain.
Whatever you do, don't just try and tough it out. Either do something to correct the pain, or take a break or see a doctor or have your valves looked at or do something. If you try to just play through the pain, you may well cause an injury that takes a long time to heal.
A nifty reference to look up here is the Alexander Technique (use your favorite search engine). There's some cool stuff on the Web about this.
Good luck and feel better.