General tips to prevent RSI

Pain is a warning

If you have pain, your body is warning you.

  • Make sure your bass is properly set up. Worn strings and high action are bad for your music as well as for your hands.
  • Avoid unnatural positions and movements
  • Whenever you experience stiffness, tingling or pain, stop playing immediately and take a break.

 

It is absolutely wrong to ‘play on through the pain’.

  • If symptoms occur repeatedly, seek medical help. Do not start exercising or taking medicine until you’ve been to the doctor.
  • General fitness helps to prevent injuries. Relaxing activities should be part of your daily routine. 
  • Warm-up and a warm room are essential. Cold hands mean less blood flow and thus less of the oxygen the muscles work on.
  • A few simple stretching exercises before, during and after  play are worth every second they take.
  • Alternating between playing positions as well as  techniques is good to activate different muscles while allowing others to relax.
  • Mix days or periods of studying hard with times when you play less
  • General fitness also requires mental fitness. Monomania when studying  a musical instrument is risky, both mentally and physically

 

 

Tips to relax

Relaxing can be done in almost any situation and even unnoticed by others. Either on rehearsal or on stage, make good use of small breaks to perform some exercises. Make them a habit. At home, take a 10 minutes break after each 30 minutes of playing. Use them to do some exercises, to get yourself a drink, to listen to music you might want to try and play etc.