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I currently work as a massage therapist so though I haven't been diagnosed with carpal tunnel, it's definitely a risk. I've been having trouble with Zills ever since I started belly dancing. Obviously the time getting used to them is a factor , but I can't play for very long so I never seem to get any better.
Today I did a lot of typing with my left hand (need to learn to type with two hands, but the pinkys don't really work, short pinkys) at my internship then had dance class. My wrist was definitely tightening up after playing Zills. Part of it is trying to keep loose while playing and not being very good at that.
Does anyone have any pointers or have had this issue? Should I even play them? That would make my dog very happy, but I do want to play them.
And I'm left handed, not that there's anything wrong with that! ; )
Today I did a lot of typing with my left hand (need to learn to type with two hands, but the pinkys don't really work, short pinkys) at my internship then had dance class. My wrist was definitely tightening up after playing Zills. Part of it is trying to keep loose while playing and not being very good at that.
Does anyone have any pointers or have had this issue? Should I even play them? That would make my dog very happy, but I do want to play them.
And I'm left handed, not that there's anything wrong with that! ; )
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Re: Zills and Carpal tunnel
Mon, June 15, 2009 - 6:07 PMWhen you practice, check the line of your forearm-to-hand position. Try to keep a straight line and not bend at the wrists. That might help.
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Re: Zills and Carpal tunnel
Tue, June 16, 2009 - 8:44 AMBefore you try to play zills, before you spend time at the keyboard, every 5-10 minutes or so while playing or typring – massage the lower arm muscle just below the elbow. I can't explain the anatomy, but somehow that does more to release tension in my wrists than anything else. (I have carpal tunnel.)
To find out if you should even play zills, I would suggest "playing" without actually using zills for a while. Just test the finger-thumb movement with no additional weight. Some people have said they get better, others say they get worse. You'll have to see for yourself.
Two more things I would suggest – Get diagnosed. There is a huge difference between carpal tunnel and neuropathy, but they can both occur in the wrists. Chiropractor. A regular visit to the chiro for me and I don't need to consider surgery. Often my shoulders and elbows are out of alignment, which trickles down to the wrists.
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Re: Zills and Carpal tunnel
Wed, June 17, 2009 - 8:11 AMI'd definitely take time thuout the day to either gently stretch, or roll my hand / fingers around, work on relaxing hands.... i've learned some real simple finger / wrist exercises that i do every time before i pick up my zills.....
you can always stick to light weight zills
and there is no need to play lots if u are concerned... use them as accents to the music / movements
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Re: Zills and Carpal tunnel
Wed, June 17, 2009 - 4:13 PMSecond, Indigo's suggestion of wrist-forearm stretches. This is something I do before playing sagat or working with canes. Warmup those babies. Otherwise I don't feel like I have the same range and can feel small catches in the wrist. -
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Re: Zills and Carpal tunnel
Wed, June 17, 2009 - 7:34 PMThanks, I definitely need to do more stretches. I work for a chiropractor so anything I need adjusted he does, he wants to keep me working. But it doesn't help with muscle. -
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Re: Zills and Carpal tunnel
Thu, June 18, 2009 - 9:55 AMYou need to pay attention for a couple of days to track what muscles are "involved" in your wrist issues. Then, when you can, work on strengthening those muscles – granted, you will have to limit the time every time you do this so as not to stress the joint. And then make sure you massage all of those muscles often. Several times a day, even.
That's how I've found to stay in front of it rather than behind it. -
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Re: Zills and Carpal tunnel
Tue, July 7, 2009 - 3:22 PMI warm up with floreos in both directions- it's also great for stretching out after too much typing. The other thing that has really helped when I do an intensive session with my heavy zills is to do reverse exercises (I know there's a proper name for this, but I can't remember what it is.) I put rubber bands on my zill fingers and work on opening the hand out with resistance, so the muscles on the other side of my hand stay balanced. & yes, stretch & massage & pamper those babies! -
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Re: Zills and Carpal tunnel
Thu, July 9, 2009 - 3:12 AMKeep in mind that once you DO have carpal tunnel syndrome, and you may be on your way to get there, it is an extremely tedious disease and takes week, months, years, who knowsn how long to cure. So save yourself before you get it.
Your massage job obviously has a lot to do with it.
I have noticed that massage therapists in Japan often use a towel between their hands/thumbs and the the person they are massaging. While this does not make the massage any better (while, maybe, humouring that touch phobia so common here) I assume, it saves the therapists some damage.
Tendons are basically asking for a rest when they start to hurt.
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Re: Zills and Carpal tunnel
Thu, July 9, 2009 - 9:13 PMGet your hands and forearms massaged once in a while.
Also I've known of people rolling those Chinese exercise balls in their palms and that seems to help them.
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Re: Zills and Carpal tunnel
Sun, July 12, 2009 - 1:59 AMyo! as a dancer/guitarist with carpal tunnel i highly recommend to anyone with this problem NSD POWER BALL ! (buy online or at sport shops...)The first time i used it i felt someone had designed especially for me!!! It strengthens the muscles from wrist to elbow and honestly not much else helped! (including accupuncture!) oh! squeezing oranges every morning seems to help too!!! Good Luck! :-) Sahara -
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Re: Zills and Carpal tunnel
Mon, July 13, 2009 - 9:04 AMI'd never heard of this before… and honestly after checking out the website: www.nsdpowerballs.com/ : I'm still not entirely sure I've heard of it yet.
I mean, there's pictures of them. There's explanations of "why they're great" but no real description of what they do or how they do it.
And in the store, you can get them without the RPM counter, with the RPM counter, with a jet noise, with flashing lights… but what does all of that mean? Is it important?
And you can get a starter… do they work without a starter?
I have a hard enough time dropping 24.99 (+ $10 shipping) on something I'm not sure about. I don't want to do that if I'm better off dropping 50 because I can't really use it without an RPM counter or a starter. (And I'm intrigued by the foot thing… if I bought one, I'd totally have to get the foot thing too.) -
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Re: Zills and Carpal tunnel
Sun, July 19, 2009 - 4:27 AMsqueezing oranges? can it be half ones or do I have to destroy whole ones? -
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Re: Zills and Carpal tunnel
Sun, July 19, 2009 - 9:45 AMIf you just want a resistance ball, you can always fill a balloon with flour- do at least double layers of balloons, tho. We used to do this all the time in high school. Easy & cheap & no squished fruit :)
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Re: Zills and Carpal tunnel
Fri, October 9, 2009 - 7:23 PMOuch! I know your pain...
I have ganglions on both wrists, at my worst I couldn't even twirl a cane, let alone a sword. With surgery on my right, it is much better now but I have to be very careful. Defienitely improve strength and condition in the area gradually. Stop before you get to the point of true soreness
Watch the alighment of hadnnwrist - keep them in line with your foraerm to avoid preloading the muscles in the top of the hand
ALso watch you don't use very tense fingers/hands..esp if you do tribal style; this tension is necessary to get the strong flamenco style hand fleureau, and it becomes auto pilot when doing hand stuff. If you have the same amount of tension but are trying to also extend and flex the fingers to play zills, you literally need to work twice as hard. You may need to retrain your brain with a really exaggerated mega floppy hand style whilst zilling for a while. it has definitely made the difference for me
Good luck -
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Re: Zills and Carpal tunnel
Fri, October 9, 2009 - 11:27 PMhey-
I have hand/wrist issues as well. I have bi-lateral tendonosis because of repetitive motion injuries. I get pain with too much computer or zill activity. It really is just a matter of stretching, warming-up the muscles, and being mindful of not over-using them. If they do hurt after a day of use, ice them and rest them as much as possible.
Also, people often think they have carpal tunnel syndrome when they actually have tendon injuries. It's good to educate yourself to know for sure which one you are suffering from. If you don't have numbness or tingling in the fingers, then it's probably not carpal tunnel.
Good luck... and I feel your pain! :)
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Re: Zills and Carpal tunnel
Sun, October 11, 2009 - 4:59 PMDefinitely stretch and warm up.Pay attention to where you're doing the actual muscle work when you play. Do you forcefully open the zills after striking them or do you just let them bounce open? Too much work on the opening phase creates tension in the finger extensors and may or may not cause your problem, but could also aggravate another problem in the area. Pain with the extensor tendons would be less likely to cause the numbness and tingling because of their location and wouldn't truly be carpal tunnel syndrome -- but painful nonetheless.
Get checked out and take care of your hands...
Mahin
