Accordions and health.

[Hilobox]

I put all four of mine away for a while because I got bursitis in my right shoulder and trigger finger on my left hand. Cortisone treatments helped a little. Recently I moved all of the accordions to another bedroom which is more stable re temp and started my sadly mediocre playing again. Now I can raise my right arm again and my left fingers (2) don’t lock up. I think the music takes my mind off the pain and the movements needed to play is therapeutic. Amazing.

 

[Tom]

That’s awesome! I doubt it’s mediocre but who cares, it’s the fact that you’re enjoying it that counts! Good luck!

 

[Tom N]

Hello Hilobox! May I pop over for a visit? I imagine Hawaii is a far sight warmer than the -4 degrees it is currently in Grand Marais Minnesota! its been this way since Sunday and won’t let up until this upcoming Sunday.

I hear you, brother. These temperatures bring out all the hot spots in my hips, one knee, wrists and right hand index finger. I keep my ibuprofen and Tylenol close. Indeed it is a mental game, and I try to play it AND my instruments daily.

Now I have a bug to upgrade my old and only student class piano accordion to a new mid range box. Some people spend that kind of money to cruise down a European river for a week. I fought hard to attend to my music interests in retirement. I figure when my body prevents me from playing, I’ll spend more time listening and reading about it.

circle your wagons and push those dark thoughts away. Maybe look into the world of music creation with a computer and inexpensive MIDI keyboard.

 

[Ventura]

our hawaii connection !

hadn't see you around for awhile.. sorry to hear that Physical stuff
forced a pause.. good for you to be fighting through it now..

many of us are playing our way through pain.. every day is a
different twinge or twist and challenge..

hang in there

 

[Hilobox]

Mahalo nui loa to everyone! Yes, it is sunny, warm and clear, mid 70s. All of our family back on the mainland are either chipping ice or shoveling snow. Accordion-wise, I made a discovery that plastic valves can get sticky in storage from our humidity—playing frees them, but the same humidity keeps the leather ones supple, Herr Dr. De Bra.

 

[Hilobox]

My three Hohner. Also have a little Polverini c30. The painting above them I did last year as well as the others below. I could at least paint when I couldn’t play, but will try to keep up with both, thanks to your encouragement.

 

[saundersbp]

I think the music takes my mind off the pain and the movements needed to play is therapeutic. Amazing

Couldn't agree more. I always feel better after practicing for a bit and conversely feel grumpy when the day doesn't have enough hours in it to let me play. It's good for body, brain and emotions!

 

[Tom]

My three Hohner. Also have a little Polverini c30. The painting above them I did last year as well as the others below. I could at least paint when I couldn’t play, but will try to keep up with both, thanks to your encouragement.

Wow beautiful!!!!!

 

[losthobos]

Cool paintings....glad you don't waste time pondering decline....

 

[Hilobox]

Hello Hilobox! May I pop over for a visit? I imagine Hawaii is a far sight warmer than the -4 degrees it is currently in Grand Marais Minnesota! its been this way since Sunday and won’t let up until this upcoming Sunday.

I hear you, brother. These temperatures bring out all the hot spots in my hips, one knee, wrists and right hand index finger. I keep my ibuprofen and Tylenol close. Indeed it is a mental game, and I try to play it AND my instruments daily.

Now I have a bug to upgrade my old and only student class piano accordion to a new mid range box. Some people spend that kind of money to cruise down a European river for a week. I fought hard to attend to my music interests in retirement. I figure when my body prevents me from playing, I’ll spend more time listening and reading about it.

circle your wagons and push those dark thoughts away. Maybe look into the world of music creation with a computer and inexpensive MIDI keyboard.

I never tried a midi interfaced with my laptop. Sounds like a bit too much like my old job, but then…..oh I’ve tried electronic keyboards. I know most chords from my organ playing in high school (played a Bach prelude in church once), but trying one recently is simply not as satisfying as an acoustic accordion, which as all of you know, you feel the sound with your whole self.

 

[JKJ]

I could at least paint when I couldn’t play, but will try to keep up with both

Your paintings are beautiful. Moving water in paintings, photos, and real-life are high on my list of favorite things! I can hear the sound in my head when I look at yours. I especially love the wave - motion, depth, color, translucency, drama in the sky.

Hey, do you sell prints?
I have a lot of original artwork on my walls so I can enjoy them daily, some mine, some done by friends.

JKJ

 

[Hilobox]

Your paintings are beautiful. Moving water in paintings, photos, and real-life are high on my list of favorite things! I can hear the sound in my head when I look at yours. I especially love the wave - motion, depth, color, translucency, drama in the sky.

Hey, do you sell prints?
I have a lot of original artwork on my walls so I can enjoy them daily, some mine, some done by friends.

JKJ

Thank you so much. No, I’ve not sold prints yet. I only put these on the forum because I respect the other members so much and wanted to show I was not totally lazy…just lazy about practicing.

 

[dak]

Thank you so much. No, I’ve not sold prints yet. I only put these on the forum because I respect the other members so much and wanted to show I was not totally lazy…just lazy about practicing.

I wasn't aware there was a practice quota to meet in order to participate here. This could become a problem for me.

 

[Tom]

I wasn't aware there was a practice quota to meet in order to participate here. This could become a problem for me.

The good thing is that participating in here will only be noticed by the participants in here. The bad thing is that not practicing will be noticed by your audience. Just sayin….

 

[Ffingers]

The good thing is that participating in here will only be noticed by the participants in here. The bad thing is that not practicing will be noticed by your audience. Just sayin….

"The bad thing is that not practicing will be noticed by your audience..."

My cat doesn't care

 

[Mike K]

Getting old affects us in all kinds of way. I am too suffering with shoulder issues. Had to quit playing pickleball. I think some of the issue actually was the way I sleep at night which normally is on my side and puts a lot of stress on the shoulder joint. I have been trying to change, but hard to control what you do when you are asleep. Left arm gets pain midway between elbow and shoulder after about half hour of playing.

Trying to get back into free bass again and possibly arthritis or trigger finger in ring finger has been a real issue. On stradella, not really a problem, but with free bass, it just does not want to bend enough to make some of the fingering patterns. Doing the Hanon exercises on the left hand to try to strengthen and flex the fingers but no immediate help. open for suggestions.

 

[vivdunstan]

I’ve mentioned elsewhere here before how newly learning the chromatic button accordion - I’m a long time piano accordionist - seems to have helped me recover lost fine control in my right hand, caused by brain damage from my progressive neurological disease. I think the radically different hand positions and frequent exercises and repetition are working the neural connections in different ways. I told my CBA makers Maugein about this, and they replied, saying they know of other customers of theirs who have had strokes, and whose doctors have insisted that they must keep playing the accordion for its neurological benefits. It also seems to have helped my right hand control be better when eating meals (which was getting very bad), and also when playing my beloved piano accordion, which I can now play much more assuredly and for vastly longer. So win win

Wishing all the folks with health issues all the best for everything, including future squeezebox playing

 

[Beemer]

I put all four of mine away for a while because I got bursitis in my right shoulder and trigger finger on my left hand. Cortisone treatments helped a little. Recently I moved all of the accordions to another bedroom which is more stable re temp and started my sadly mediocre playing again. Now I can raise my right arm again and my left fingers (2) don’t lock up. I think the music takes my mind off the pain and the movements needed to play is therapeutic. Amazing.

I had my right hand trigger finger operated on. It's fine now but be aware that there will be post op pain and for me two months of discomfort. I later learned that getting the hand moving as soon as possible is the way to reduce internal scarring.

 

[Alan Sharkis]

I had my right hand trigger finger operated on. It's fine now but be aware that there will be post op pain and for me two months of discomfort. I later learned that getting the hand moving as soon as possible is the way to reduce internal scarring.

I’ve had trigger fingers injected (over the objections of my ophthalmologist who says that steroids interfere with my glaucoma treatment) and surgically released. The results have always been excellent. I wish you a speedy and uneventful recovery. I can also pass on a hand exercise that you can do that may also help:

Form a claw with your hand, then a fist, then back to a claw, then open. Do the cycle ten times, and repeat it three or four times a day.

But accordion practice will help even more.
.

 

[Ffingers]

I’ve had trigger fingers injected (over the objections of my ophthalmologist who says that steroids interfere with my glaucoma treatment) and surgically released. The results have always been excellent. I wish you a speedy and uneventful recovery. I can also pass on a hand exercise that you can do that may also help:

Form a claw with your hand, then a fist, then back to a claw, then open. Do the cycle ten times, and repeat it three or four times a day.

But accordion practice will help even more.
.

Accordion practice is helping keep my osteoarthritis affected hands supple despite the significant lack of cartilege in all of the joints.

However, the clackety-clack that they sometimes produce resembles that of a noisy keyboard