[ANON POST] Injury that would make playing the violin painful/impossible that is not losing a hand

[orange_fell]

Hello little details! This is the first time I ask so I hope I am doing this right (english is not my first language so I hope I express myself correctly

Comments

[knowledgequeen]

An extremely famous violinist once broke her little finger before going on tour, and she had to rewrite all her music to use the first three fingers only. That is a mind-boggling, maddeningly difficult undertaking, and anyone who isn't world-class would not be able to do that.

I played for ten years and personally had far worse trouble with my left hand and wrist than my right, which leads to my second point - a wrist injury of some kind would also work for you, not just the fingers. Both wrists are integral in the playing of a violin, and if the left wrist (the one holding the violin up, essentially) were to be permanently affected by a ligament tear or something like that, it would be crippling. I have what's called De Quervain's disease, which is a repetitive motion injury, and my wrists crunch horribly if they're taxed too hard.

[knowledgequeen]

Oh wow, that is truly amazing, and inspiring!

Ah, wrist injury is something I haven't considered that much, because I probably want to put this story in comic form someday and I wanted it to be very apparent that something wasn't right with his hand (I think breaking the fingerbones would make for some bumps and stuff at least). I will see if there is something fitting in that direction though, thanks for the input!

[hexeengel]

I can't advise on the injury itself, but as a former violinist I can say that it is very rare to hold the violin in the right hand. So if you want an injury that affects the fingers, have it on the left hand. If you go with wrists, either hand would work.

[hexeengel]

Thank you, I will keep that in mind!

[anonymous]

Like I said in a comment above, I'm looking to get this story into comic form eventually and thus an injury thats visible and 'self explanatory' (meaning the reader can see it and sort of know what it might be) is preferable. I probably should have mentioned that in the text, sorry!

This is a good point though, I haven't thought about the strain on elbows or shoulders, I will keep this in mind!

[anonymous]

aah thank you!

I try to make the writing as best as I can, but I want to use the medium efficiently as well - there will be talk about the issue eventually in the story, but it is something I'd like one of the other characters to notice, and thus it would be good if the reader could notice it early on as well : )

[lyonesse]

tendinitis in the left wrist (dequervain's tendosynovitis perhaps) or shoulder/rotator cuff impaction in the right.

wowftvoe :)

[lilacsigil]

dequervain's tendosynovitis perhap

I played the cello and developed this in my right hand. Even though it was my bowing hand, it was still intensely painful to hold the bow to the strings although the pressure needed is very little. Even after a cortisone injection pretty much fixed the problem, I had wrist stiffness and couldn't play for more than an hour or so a day. If it had been my left wrist, I don't think I could have easily played again.

[lyonesse]

I'm glad this turned out okay for you!

I will research more in this direction, thank you for pointing this out!

[novindalf]

As someone who has broken their scaphoid I can confirm that it was painful and difficult to grip things (for instance I could hold a potato in my injured hand while peeling it with the other). It's not a very visible injury though, unless they have it strapped up with some sort of bandage/splint, but I'm not sure what the 17th cent. treatment would have been, sorry!

[novindalf]

*could not