5 Tips for Navigating a Playing-Related Injury, #3: Know You're Not Alone
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Very few people have recovered from serious playing-related injuries completely alone, and the good news is you don't have to. The kinds of people you recruit for your professional support team may depend on your needs and your budget, but could include any of the following, in no particular order:
psychotherapist/counselor/spiritual advisor
occupational therapist
neurologist
Alexander Technique or Feldenkrais instructor, or other movement specialist
instrument instructor, particularly one specialized in healthy technique
But the kind of support needed to overcome an injury goes beyond professional assistance. It's equally important to seek out connection with friends, family, and colleagues you know you can trust.
When I first started experiencing strange symptoms in my left hand, my first impulse was to hide. I stopped going on social media. I avoided everyone outside a very safe circle of friends, and when other colleagues asked how I was doing I alluded vaguely to “health issues” but didn't even dare whisper the word “dystonia.” It was too vulnerable, and I worried being labeled as damaged would ruin my career prospects far into the future.
Less than a year in, a community music school where I was teaching asked if I had anyone to recommend for an open strings position. Reluctantly, I surfaced on Facebook and pasted a cheery post on about it, which got a few replies. I was glad to connect some beloved colleagues with a work opportunity, but the bigger reward was completely unexpected: one of them invited me for coffee, and since I knew she was a kind person I risked opening up to her about my dystonia. To my surprise, she knew someone else with it and put the two of us in touch. He in turn pointed me to Sophie Till, the teacher I credit with putting me on the path to recovery and giving me tools to bring my playing to a whole new level. I shudder to think about where I'd be today if I hadn't ventured out of my cave and written that insignificant little post.