Today I want to share my top three tools for body maintenance as an adult learner of the cello.

About 5 years into playing I started to suffer from some overuse injuries that were a result of very excessive physical tension while playing, poor posture, a lack of exercise to balance my body out, and a relentless, obsessive approach to practicing.

I was practicing 4-5 hours a day, every day, 365 days a year.

If I felt great, great. If my body hurt or I was sick with a fever, suck it up.

I had just finished my second bachelors degree in cello performance and I was spending my days teaching, doing gigs, and practicing ruthlessly.

During a particularly busy period I started to feel pain both in the pinky finger of my left hand and in my left elbow, to the point that while I wouldn’t allow myself to give up work or take a few days off from practicing, the pain was constantly getting in the way of my practice.

I went to doctors, had X-rays to check the bones of my hands, started physical therapy, started doing yoga, started taking Alexander Technique, got Active Release Technique Therapy, you name it, I did it.

Except, of course, for allowing myself to take a couple weeks off of cello playing. That I refused.

As it turned out, I realized after months of doctor appointments and personal research that my pinky pain was a case of tendonitis (and not an ulnar nerve issue like I thought), but that my elbow pain was actually referred pain due to a slight ulnar nerve impingement I was experiencing in my left shoulder (from bad posture while playing cello).

What a revelation!

After using yoga and stretching to open my shoulders and chest, the elbow pain vanished!

I could have continued “treating” my elbow for years, not realizing it was my shoulder pinching my ulnar nerve all along!

As for my pinky, the solution was a combination of improving my left hand technique, Alexander Technique classes that helped me learn how to use my body more efficiently in general, and one of the tools I’m going to show you today.

I hope my story demonstrates that with adult learners, the name of the game is injury prevention and that above all else, we must learn to listen to our bodies and respect what they are saying to us.

During my Odyssey from painless, brainless body use, through the rough waters of injury, and on to the other side of mindful, pain free playing, I accumulated a small arsenal of gadgets and gizmos to help me recover.

Some were definitely more useful than others, and some I still use to this day as a means of general maintenance.

Please note: I am not an expert in medicine or in physical therapy or anything of the sort, so please consult a professional if you are in pain and one of these tools seems intriguing.

My top 3 tools for maintaining a healthy body and for treating minor aches and pains:

My first tool is actually something pretty common to most people, the foam roller.

I use this primarily to roll out my back and also to target my rear deltoid muscles, which are always tighter than I want them to be.

Whether it’s playing cello, teaching, or doing other work, I spend more time than is healthy seated and slightly pitched forward.

This helps me undo some of that.

I also use the foam roller to open my chest and shoulders by laying on it face up with the tube vertical along my spine, and then I open my arms out in a T shape!

Personally, I found that a stiffer foam roller is more effective for me, so you might want to try a few types before settling on one.

A combo of a yoga block and two balls

I bought these exercise balls but honestly you could probably just put two tennis ball in a sock.

This combo of tools helps me create a little traction in my neck when I’m feeling tighter than usual.

So far this is the best way I’ve found to release the muscles in my neck when I’m feeling tight, the more I let go and let gravity do the work, the more I can feel my muscles releasing.

To release my neck I place the yoga block on it’s side like this and then put the balls on top.

Then I lay down on it and position the balls so that they cradle the base of my skull and take the weight of my head.

As I relax into the position, the muscles in my neck have a chance to loosen and calm down.

THC/CBD balm

I don’t know about the legality of it outside of California, so please do your homework and make sure it’s legal for you to have before trying it.

But this stuff is amazing. I use it for tense muscles or for little aches and pains and for me it always works better than popping a couple ibuprofen.

I’ve tried a few brands and this one, Papa Barkley, I found most effective, and I get the one that has more THC in it'; it’s a 3:1 ratio of CBD and THC either way and I found the one with higher CBD wasn’t strong enough for me.

When my pinky tendonitis was bothering me, I would do a routine that was first, submerging my hand in ice water for 5 minutes, then using a massage tool to stimulate blood flow, and finally some THC cream after practice, and this routine really worked for me.

So those are my top 3 tools for body maintenance; honestly I probably have bought dozens of gadgets during my cello journey but these 3 I use constantly and think would be valuable to practically anyone learning to play the cello.

If you have any questions about the tools I mentioned, please feel free to email me at billy@adultcello.com.