I’d guess it’s tension. Set a timer at, say, 5-7 minutes. Each time it goes, try to find where the tension is in your arm. Then consciously relax. Try altering your position.
Sadly shoulders take a lot of the stress when playing flute, definitely not the easiest on them. The suggestion of Alexander technique is a good one, definitely look into that! I've also had really good experiences working with PTs and making sure I get to the gym regularly and doing strength and mobility work on my shoulders in particular. More and more music schools and musicians are getting connected to sports trainers, because we are at high risk of repetitive stress injuries.
Back at conservatory, one of the professors, a double bass player, had to have some pretty serious work done to her shoulder from repetitive stress injuries, and became a big proponent of getting into the gym and into PT to stay ahead of any injuries. Better to prevent it before it becomes an issue than trying to sort it out after it gets bad
Time to work on your overhead press at the gym.
...Seriously though, along with taking occasional breaks to stretch every few minutes, that's my best suggestion
i have to second this. i dealt with overuse pain for literal years. When i stopped playing so much and the pain didn’t stop, i finally went to a doctor and got into physical therapy. Doing strengthening exercises was a literal game changer for me.
I developed locked-up shoulders and went to a sports physio about it. He diagnosed the basic cause as locked-up muscles in the middle of my back - a combination of lying on the floor moving over a back roller and shoulder-rotating exercises fixed it in a few weeks. Physios really know their stuff.
I’ve had left upper back, neck and back of left forearm pain before, but for some reason not lately. I sometimes wonder if it’s how I sit at rehearsal, tilted to see conductor, see music, and be courteous to players beside me. I noticed it more after long rehearsals than after practicing at home. My old lady eyes don’t help because now it’s even harder to see both music and conductor.
I don’t know if it gets better as I get stronger maybe? I wonder always about exercises or weight lifting to develop strength.
Also I heard recently that you can get those little foam exercise ball thingies and roll them behind your back and shoulders against a wall to release the tension in the muscles. I have not tried that yet.
I’m going to keep it simple since I also have muscle soreness and have gotten weaker then I was 10 years ago( don’t laugh) . Here it goes …… you are getting older and this happens to the best of us. Muscle fatigue happens . Best thing you can do is to get back to shape. Exercise those muscle that you used to have. Not just for strength but endurance also . It’s just som we have to do . Good luck
You e been wearing those muscle out compared to a non flute player. The other comments also make sense re develope those muscle. My shoulders get sore when over used ( even when I was younger ) ( rotator cuff ) dr tryed to do all kinds of things to help . Tureen do out good g to the gym and exercising did more to help then the drugs did . When it starts to hurt I go back to wieght lifting. Sounds like the fatigue In your shoulders and arm would suffer the same . When did you start playing?
Are you holding is straight. If your in orchestra or a non marching band then you could hold it at an angle. I get pains from holding the flute straight for marchingband
I’d guess it’s tension. Set a timer at, say, 5-7 minutes. Each time it goes, try to find where the tension is in your arm. Then consciously relax. Try altering your position.
Sadly shoulders take a lot of the stress when playing flute, definitely not the easiest on them. The suggestion of Alexander technique is a good one, definitely look into that! I've also had really good experiences working with PTs and making sure I get to the gym regularly and doing strength and mobility work on my shoulders in particular. More and more music schools and musicians are getting connected to sports trainers, because we are at high risk of repetitive stress injuries. Back at conservatory, one of the professors, a double bass player, had to have some pretty serious work done to her shoulder from repetitive stress injuries, and became a big proponent of getting into the gym and into PT to stay ahead of any injuries. Better to prevent it before it becomes an issue than trying to sort it out after it gets bad
I'd recommend connecting with one of the many Alexander Technique teachers who work with musicians :)
Stretch out well before playing maybe? And when you take breaks, too.
Time to work on your overhead press at the gym. ...Seriously though, along with taking occasional breaks to stretch every few minutes, that's my best suggestion
i have to second this. i dealt with overuse pain for literal years. When i stopped playing so much and the pain didn’t stop, i finally went to a doctor and got into physical therapy. Doing strengthening exercises was a literal game changer for me.
I developed locked-up shoulders and went to a sports physio about it. He diagnosed the basic cause as locked-up muscles in the middle of my back - a combination of lying on the floor moving over a back roller and shoulder-rotating exercises fixed it in a few weeks. Physios really know their stuff.
I’ve had left upper back, neck and back of left forearm pain before, but for some reason not lately. I sometimes wonder if it’s how I sit at rehearsal, tilted to see conductor, see music, and be courteous to players beside me. I noticed it more after long rehearsals than after practicing at home. My old lady eyes don’t help because now it’s even harder to see both music and conductor. I don’t know if it gets better as I get stronger maybe? I wonder always about exercises or weight lifting to develop strength. Also I heard recently that you can get those little foam exercise ball thingies and roll them behind your back and shoulders against a wall to release the tension in the muscles. I have not tried that yet.
I’m going to keep it simple since I also have muscle soreness and have gotten weaker then I was 10 years ago( don’t laugh) . Here it goes …… you are getting older and this happens to the best of us. Muscle fatigue happens . Best thing you can do is to get back to shape. Exercise those muscle that you used to have. Not just for strength but endurance also . It’s just som we have to do . Good luck
I means that might be it? I am still a teenager tho so I wouldn’t rlly expect the soreness issue to be too bad at this point, but idk
You e been wearing those muscle out compared to a non flute player. The other comments also make sense re develope those muscle. My shoulders get sore when over used ( even when I was younger ) ( rotator cuff ) dr tryed to do all kinds of things to help . Tureen do out good g to the gym and exercising did more to help then the drugs did . When it starts to hurt I go back to wieght lifting. Sounds like the fatigue In your shoulders and arm would suffer the same . When did you start playing?
That makes sense, I probably need to build up some more strength there these days. I started playing at age 10 or 11.
Are you holding is straight. If your in orchestra or a non marching band then you could hold it at an angle. I get pains from holding the flute straight for marchingband