Posted by Rick Denney on September 08, 2003 at 09:45:24:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Severe hand pains posted by Brandon Ostrom on September 08, 2003 at 08:15:12:
I type like a madman, too. And I do lots of it. But I've never had a sore hand from typing, or from playing the tuba on the same days.
I have had sore hands after engaging in hard hand labor, such as woodworking, construction, digging in the garden, and so on. I have also had bouts of chronic pain in the soft spot between my hand and forefinger, but I think this resulted from an external trauma that broke a bone but for which I didn't seek treatment.
Remember that you have relatively few muscles actually in your hand--most of the muscles that make a grip are in your forearm. The exception is the muscle in the palm of your hand that allows you fold your thumb over the palm, and also the muscle that allows you to pinch your thumb into your forefinger. These are the muscles that get sore for me when I do hard work. These are not the muscles you use to actuate valves, but they are the muscles you'll use to hold up the horn. You have said you aren't holding up your horn with your right hand, but were I you I'd test the theory to be sure by playing the horn for a while without your thumb around the ring or tube where you are now resting it.
In my experience, top-action horns require a lot of work from that muscle that folds your thumb over the palm of your hand.
Rick "who has large, strong hands but who still feels pain in them from time to time" Denney