@twocats have you ever tried soaking your hands in warm water before practice, and then soaking them in cold water after? I donāt usually do this, but when my hands are taking a beating because of non-piano stuff (i.e., when my work activities having me on the computer all day long), Iāll do this sometimes, a physical therapist told me it can help prevent injury.
Another thing to think about are rest days ā if you generally practice every day, take one day off completely from piano. MG advocates for that as well, although for different reasons.
Oh btw, back to your thread titleā¦ I suspect that if you are worried that youāre overdoing it, you might be overdoing it. š
even just a littleā¦. So youāre smart to think about it and try to figure out ways to reduce the strain.
Small changes can probably help a lot. For example, I know that when Iām still learning a piece, like as in, when Iām still unfamiliar with the notes, when I havenāt settled on fingering, that kind of thing, I am sometimes more tense while practicing. Especially when there are octaves, jumps or bigger chords, and Iām kind of glaring at the score making sure Iām playing the right notes. Once I have the piece in my fingers, it becomes much easier to play without tension. So just knowing that, I pay more attention while Iām in the learning stages of a piece, and that seems to help.
Since you said itās your pinkie, maybe pay attention to how youāre playing, are you āslammingā into the keyboard without realizing it, or leaning into your pinkie (since itās the RH, maybe youāre really trying to bring out those notes or something) and unconsciously straining or putting weight there. If you notice that, just a slight easing up might be all you need to reduce the strain.