On the second day of Cellomas
My teacher told to me: Don’t ignore any pain, especially pain that playing seems to make worse. My left arm started acting up when I was about 11, and I have a feeling that the doctors and my parents thought I was faking it just to get out of practicing. True: I didn’t like practicing, but mostly because I had little idea how to do it effectively, and also because it hurt like hell. Chronic pain is very hard to diagnose and treat, but... Read More
massage
Those of you who read my Twitter updates know that I have been dealing with some nasty left arm issues. Well, it manifests in the left arm, but it’s a back problem. I think. It’s never been resolved to my curative satisfaction, although I have been the recipient of more misguided physical therapy than most. I love that school of medicine; we don’t know what’s wrong, but maaaaybe, just maybe, if we run a few volts through your... Read More
An update from Jen, the guest blogger
A while ago, I had one of my students write a bit about her struggles with pain. Here’s an update. About 6 months ago my back went out. Since then I have been living in chronic pain, waging a constant battle with my HMO, and seeing countless doctors which have offered me little more than pills and condescension. (Ed: I was there when a doctor suggested that it was all in her head. Nice!)I have been out of work this whole time and I should... Read More
200th post, for real
Those last two don’t really count. Taking a cue from my cross-country blog sweetheart, Eric Edberg, I’m going to be a little unguarded and ramble a bit about Emily stuff. If you’re looking for advice on your bow grip, I’m sure I posted something useful a while back if you do some digging. So first off, I’d like to apologize to the folks holding their breath for installment #2 of Haydn C major blogcast. I hope you know... Read More
tennis, anyone?
Do anything enough times and you’re bound to flirt with injury. Do something like play the cello, and your back is sure to remind you now and again that you are actually responsible for taking care of your body, not just master Popper #17. So I’ve been doing crazy chops practice this summer, am midway through a move, and have had a whole lotta stress from just about every other sector of my life to boot. My back is a wreck, and it reached... Read More
