Every hurt anything drumming

[the kid]

Now i ask this because i reckon that most people who play drums all the time don't actually injure themselves playing at least not seriously. Any time i beat my hands to shreds they will always recover and heal within 5 days max.

If i do injure myself it's doing something non jembe related like lifting some thing or what ever. The other day i fell out of my hammock and hurt my wrist. It wasn't funny at the time. . Seriously thats the only injury that i've actually worried about in ages.

[rachelnguyen]

Drumming related injuries:

Hit a cowskin head too hard and bruised one of the bones in my hand pretty badly. I ended up buying little foot pads with a hole in them and using them on my hand while the bone healed. It worked very well.

I have pulled muscles in my back while pulling drums. Doesn't seem to matter how I position myself or the drum, it still puts a strain on my lower back.

I have a chronically sore elbow. I think it is something like tennis elbow. Doesn't seem to matter if I am playing djembe or dun dun.

That's it. Nothing serious. I have sometimes felt a little wrist soreness, especially since starting to play dun duns... but I am really careful to take it easy because I don't want to mess with carpal tunnel.

Love,
Rachel

[James]

I hurt one of the little bones in my hand playing timbal...

I've injured my ears...

that's about it...

[bubudi]

i can play for hours and never hurt. a healer bathed me in a special mixture....

just kidding

i strained my back the first time i pulled verticals by hand/stick on a guinea djembe. i got splinters from students' tweneboa drums that i agreed to attempt to bring to some kind of decent playing condition. i had blood blisters the first couple of dance classes i played dununs for. i had a drum fall from the top of a cupboard and split my head open. i still went and did the gig i was on my way to do and afterwards went to hospital to have my scalp glued back together! i once had a blister on my finger that got infected and had to be popped with a sterile needle (the constant pressure of the pus in the abscess was excruciating - much worse than having my head split open. i was back drumming at a gig 4 days later though).

[Dugafola]

blisters, blood blisters, occasional split. nothing that some tape or super glue can't fix.

[Djembe-nerd]

I have had soreness, but lately I have been having some tingling in the wrists. I am watching it and have scaled down the intensity and durations, and I will be off to vacation for a month so that will be a rest time. After I come back I will be very careful not to load myself beyond my capacity.

I think your capacity to withstand injuries depends on age, physical fitness and hand condition.

You will have less injuries if you stared playing at 19 and have been playing for 10-20 years. You will have more injuries if you started playing at 45 and never played percussion before. Lot of variables, each one needs to be aware though of their condition and the damages that can happen. Its a very dynamic, unique and variable discussion for each differently.

[e2c]

Damage to the ulnar and median nerves.

For the latter, no playing for 6 months, wearing splints on both wrists every night for that period of time. (Not done playing djembe - bad technique for conga + overstressing left wrist while trying to play Arabic tambourine, which is a very heavy instrument.)

More recently, entrapment of ulnar nerve in left palm (runs through outside of wrist to "funny bone" up to shoulder). I have a herniated disc in my neck due to an old whiplash injury, so have to be aware of both things when playing. Nerves control muscles; damaged nerves can cause muscle (and other) pain and loss of function.

I have been playing percussion since 1989, but only started learning djembe and duns in 2007.

As djembe-nerd says, some people are more predisposed to injuries than others. It's a very complex thing and there are so many potential contributing factors.

fwiw, a lot of guitarists, pianists and string players struggle with the kind of nerve entrapment I've been dealing with. The old "treatment" was surgery in order to release the pressure on the nerve, which means months of recovery and physiotherapy afterwards to regain strength, dexterity and function.

I will only go for surgery if all other possibilities of managing the problem are exhausted!

[e2c]

Drumming related injuries:

Hit a cowskin head too hard and bruised one of the bones in my hand pretty badly. I ended up buying little foot pads with a hole in them and using them on my hand while the bone healed. It worked very well.

Ouch!!! Hope that never happens to you again, Rachel!

I have sometimes felt a little wrist soreness, especially since starting to play dun duns... but I am really careful to take it easy because I don't want to mess with carpal tunnel.

Smart lady!

[michi]

Got a splinter in my thumb a while ago while I was fiddling with my drum

These days, I rarely hurt myself. I used to get a fair bit of bruising after playing hard, but that hasn't happened for more than two years now. I guess my technique is better, and I've learned how to hit without doing damage.

The most common problem for me is splits, if I play hard in a dry climate (or simply too hard, no matter what the climate). At the end of Epizo's camp last week, we partied and played hard until 2:00am. I walked away from that session with a few splits.

The other problem are callouses. I get a callous on my middle finger from playing tones:

Tone callous

IMG_4520.JPG (88.08 KiB) Viewed 246 times

When that callous gets too thick, it's actually worse than no callous at all because the callous hammers down on the joint underneath, which hurts. The solution is simple: thin down the callous periodically. It's just that, sometimes, I'm too lazy and don't do it until after it hurts

Cheers,

Michi.

[Dugafola]

i get those too michi. they can hurt badly.

[Mikeleza]

I have a bit of an issue with my left elbow that flares up every now and then. I'm not sure what it is but it's a dull ache that can get worse if I don't rest it... Thats a bummer when you want to train harder! It would be nice to have some ideas how to do some appropriate treatment. When I play fast and hard for long times my left arm gets tight and tense from my elbow to my wrist. I have concentrated a lot on being friendly with it and trying not to play hard without warming up but like I say it would be nice to get some more advice about it.

Other than that... Its dry splits that are the killer. I am currently nursing two. One from playing duns and one on my right hand from playing a lot since I got back from a drum camp in Spain.

[Paul]

since I got back from a drum camp in Spain.

Which camp was that

[Mikeleza]

Babaniko in Cathalonia

[michi]

I have a bit of an issue with my left elbow that flares up every now and then. I'm not sure what it is but it's a dull ache that can get worse if I don't rest it... Thats a bummer when you want to train harder! It would be nice to have some ideas how to do some appropriate treatment. When I play fast and hard for long times my left arm gets tight and tense from my elbow to my wrist. I have concentrated a lot on being friendly with it and trying not to play hard without warming up but like I say it would be nice to get some more advice about it.

First thing I would do is to go and see a physiotherapist and get advice. Find out what the problem is first. A physio is likely to give you advice as to how to deal with it. Assuming there is no serious issue, doing light weight training would probably be beneficial. Again, check with the physio to make sure you aren't going to do something that will make things worse.

Other than that... Its dry splits that are the killer. I am currently nursing two. One from playing duns and one on my right hand from playing a lot since I got back from a drum camp in Spain.

Apply shea butter regularly (twice daily) to keep the skin supple. Makes a big difference!

Cheers,

Michi.

[Mikeleza]

Thanks, might try and book a session with a physio soon.

I use vitamin E cream on my hands which works pretty well but maybe the butter is better. Can you get it at the chemist?