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I've been having some problems playing the shakuhachi from some various problems; some arthritis in my fingers, wrist problems (probably from old repetetive strain injuries) and a more recent one, Dupuytren's disease or contracture, where some connective tissue forms a lump in the palm of the hand, causing it to contract slightly (my ring finger is most affected, but it pulls on all to some extent) as in closing the fingers towards the palm.
An easy to understand explanation here:
http://www.dupuytrenscenter.com/dupuytr … ytrens.htm
It's not very painful, as yet, and mine is just starting to give me problems, but not a big deal yet. Stretching to reach holes seems to be the biggest problem, along with the thumb position, which only adds to the stretch. I have no shakuhachi at the moment because of it, since I couldn't find one I was comfortable with yet. It's only a matter of finding a shorter stretch, with the right alignment of the holes for me, I imagine. And, I may have to just get a smaller shakuhachi (tried a couple of nice 2.4's and a 2.2), or make my own with custom holes.
Anyone here run across this problem? It seems there is a simple treatment (not a cure) started in France that looks promising (performed by someone out West as stated in the website), but I don't know what it may cost, or if it's widely accepted.
Last edited by bluespiderweb (2006-07-15 21:47:07)
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Barry,
I don't know if the info on these links would have any bearing on your particular situation,
and perhaps you've already seen these on earlier posts.
In case they might be of help, I'll post them again here:
http://home.mindspring.com/~shin-on/handcare.html
http://eeshop.unl.edu/music.html
Best,
eB
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Thanks for the links, Ed. I had seen the first one before, but there's a lot of useful information for any musician there on both sites. Appreciate it!
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