twocats Maybe I should do hot-cold therapy on my own (alternate putting hands in very hot and very cold water).
Oh yeah, actually you probably should! I forgot about this, but it’s called contrast bathing. I have talked to a hand specialist about this in the past (but I didn’t end up doing it because my problem, de quervain’s, is mostly controlled with night splints). I googled and this description seems to match pretty closely the one I was told about:
https://www.cuh.nhs.uk/patient-information/contrast-bathing-for-the-hand-and-wrist/
I don't really have a recovery routine except for rolling out my back and shoulders after I practice.
You could add more to this probably. When I finish playing, I have a short, whole body stretching routine that I do. I include legs as well because anything that improves overall blood circulation will be good. But the upper body stuff I do is a little more involved than just rolling out the back and shoulders. For example, I do that thing where you stand with your feet shoulder width apart, as you bend your knees, your hands go down in front and then up over your head, like a windmill maybe? It’s hard to explain, but big arm circles. Then I twist at the torso with hands coming across my body and and then out… the shoulder rotations, upward pointing hand shake outs… and a series of gentle twists that are meant to mimic some things that a massage therapist does. For example, again standing with feet shoulder width, arms out at sides, parallel to the floor. Left hand points palm up, right hand points palm down, now rotate those palms in opposite ways (left hand palm goes palm down right hand goes palm up) so you’re kind of asymmetrically twisting your whole arm and shoulder on both sides… similarly, with arms out (chest open) palms up and thumbs extended backward, bring your hands together in front of your body so the back of your hands touch. This is a symmetrical twist. Then do the same thing, except the hands go behind your back.
Each movement can be repeated 5-10 times, gently and slowly. Then I do leg-focused stretches sitting on the floor, the kind you might do before or after any workout. The whole thing takes maybe 10 minutes.
I started doing this routine years ago, like maybe 15 years ago, and I’ve continued to do it after practicing most days. I think it helps me with circulation and avoiding stiffness etc., which helps prevent headaches as well.
Hmm, I’m googling around and not finding good examples… when you google “stretches for pianists,” the stretches are too wrist-centric. And when you google other kinds of stretching, they mostly focus on movements that open and close your shoulder blades. Which are good but incomplete. I think the aim of moving your whole arms, gently twisting and rotating, is the thing to focus on because it will stimulate circulation across the whole arm.
Anyway, good luck! I think little tweaks to your routine can help a lot over the long run.