what physically is happening when i feel the urge to stretch my wrist?

hello! i posted this question in a piano forum, but the information i'm looking for is more "scientific" and precise than how they could help me with.

if anyone knows a better forum for me to ask this question, please suggest that, too!



after playing piano for a short time, or sometimes after typing on my computer, i have this urge to stretch my wrists, especially if i'm not moving my wrists very much. subjectively, it feels that my wrists get tired (or something) when they don't move much, and that i need to stretch it to feel better. i want to know about what physically is happening here?

for example:
- what IS my wrist, anyways? what is happening inside it when i have the urge to stretch it? what causes that to happen?
- what does stretching actually physically do, and why does it feel better after stretching it?
- pianists on the forum talk about it bad using a "locked and immobile" wrist, and how it's not good to "accumulate tension" in the wrist. what does it mean for the wrist to be locked, and what exactly is tension, and what does it mean for it to accumulate?

i wonder if it's more clear about the more "scientific" and precise nature of the information i'm looking for. people talk of wrists and tension and such, but when i experience tension, i want to know what it actually *is* that i'm experiencing.


i hope some people can help me understand!

Hello! You may find this Repetitive Strain Injury information helpful: Repetitive Strain Injury: How to prevent, identify, and manage RSI and Repetitive Strain Injury | Health | Patient UK

Hi silpheed,

I suggest you look at the following site regarding ideomotion.
You might be inspired and get some answers there.
The analgesia of movement

kind regards
Esther

Hello silpheed_tandy,


I hope I can help provide you with some direction to your question.

"what IS my wrist, anyways?"

Your wrist is nothing to you without appropriate brain structures and feedback systems to feel it. These exist within an area of the brain called your somatosensory cortex. There, you will find your whole body is mapped out. This is also referred to as the somatosensory homunculus. Basically, all the muscles and joints in your body have little receptors inside them which are constantly feeding information back to your brain to make you feel as though you have a wrist, leg, head, neck etc....

"what is happening inside it when i have the urge to stretch it? what causes that to happen?"

The urge is really a perception that you are having which is again a product of your brain. We have urges to eat, sleep, use the toilet etc. All urges are the product of neurotransmitters being released in various areas of our brains which make us do certain things to satisfy those urges. Because you are feeling your wrist "needs to be stretched" it would be fair to say that the area that does the feeling for the wrist which exists in the somatosensory cortex in your parietal lobe is looking for some more input. Urges can be protective to promote reflexes which will stimulate blood flow to joints or inhibit pain. Do you ever wonder why you shake your hand if you bang it with a hammer? Movement information overrides pain information. By holding your wrist in a locked position you rob your brain of the sensory reporting which it needs to keep a joint feeling good. Without this good flow of muscle feedback the result is discomfort which can lead to pain. Just try keeping your hand or arm totally still for as long as you possibly can. This should cause you to want to move it or stretch it which, when you move or stretch the body part in question, activates fuel delivery reflexes and sends messages to your brain to tell it that everything is OK down there.

- what does stretching actually physically do, and why does it feel better after stretching it?

I think I covered that in the last bit. It can get really technical though.

- pianists on the forum talk about it bad using a "locked and immobile" wrist, and how it's not good to "accumulate tension" in the wrist. what does it mean for the wrist to be locked, and what exactly is tension, and what does it mean for it to accumulate?

I'm not a concert pianist and thus am not familiar with the technique side of things but imagine you would not be moving your wrist as you played if it were locked. Interesting that your teaches feel that it is important not to accumulate tension in the wrist and advise you to keep it unlocked and mobile. Unlocked and mobile will maximize the muscle and joint feed back to your brain and keep fuel being delivered maximally to your fingers and wrists as you play which will keep the muscles from getting tired. When muscles fatigue it places increased stress on ligaments and other joint tissues and can lead to some difficult pain syndromes to treat. You can check out the post by vioalblue if you are interested in the names of some of these conditions.

Hope that was helpful.

SPPAWA, thanks for taking a shot at my specific questions!

so if i'm understanding you correctly, there's a part of my brain that "senses" what my body is, and it feels the need to check up on different body parts to make sure that they're working OK. when i have an urge to stretch my wrist, it might be because it's been still for too long; stretching my wrist does the following:
- reassures the somatosensory cortex that my wrist is still OK
- promotes blood flow / fuel flow, which can prevent the muscles associated with my wrist from fatiguing, which can help prevent the ligaments and tendons from working too hard.

thank you for this information!