key dip/carpal tunnel

[Bob Anderson]

I've read that the most common cause of CTS in musicians is sustained or
repetitive wrist flexion. A 1981 study showed dramatic pressure increase
in the carpal tunnel as wrist flexion or extension approached 90
degrees. Full pronation also causes the flexor tendons to press against
the median nerve. These are both risky for pianists. I got that info
from "The Musician's Survival Manual: A Guide to Preventing and Treating
Injuries in Instrumentalists" by Richard Norris, ISBN: 0-918812-74-7.
This book also has an excellent bibliography and a resource guide for
performing arts medicine clinics.

So that would not indicate that the amount of keydip has anything to do
with CTS. The important factor is keeping the wrist in a neutral
position as much as possible. In fact, one of the treatment strategies
is to apply a wrist splint which allows freedom of movement to the
fingers but prevents extreme flexion or extension of the wrist.

There may be other bad things associated with keydip. I have always
thought that a lot of inertia in the keysticks(a side effect of heaving
leading) must be hard on the fingers & hand. Big pianos with long keys
and heavy hammers natually tend to have more leading and shallower
keydip. But you can't just increase the keydip on a long key very much.
So maybe the problem is not so much keydip as big concert instruments
themselves. Even so, I would much rather have a nice big concert
instrument to play than a crummy spinet. So I guess "you pays your money
and you takes your chances."

Bob Anderson
Tucson, AZ