[Vickie]

. . . and in my opinion Pete Egosque is right. On some philophies on training Pete's ideas differ from mine but on on this we are in the same camp. Most repetitive motion injuries are not so much a function of achieving middle age as a function of having more 'play' time to allow deterioration of the origin of the problem. Truly your hands are designed perfectly to perform for your whole life. The alignment issues that create impingement on the nerves develop over time and the hands are eventually the symptom area. Check your alignment and refer to some of the earlier posts that talk about hand and shoulder and elbow injury. You will find many tools to measure your alignment to see if you are creating the problem in your posture and not by using your hands too much. I played classical for a few years in college and know the position your shoulders and neck are in to create your art. If you aren't doing some exercises that let your body look at a straighter, more appropriate posture for homosapiens, then you can expect a symptom to show up somewhere to remind you that your spine is supposed to stretch out. It is during your exercises (both strength and flexibility) that the body is reminded of it's true skeletal blueprint and allowed to recover from the frequency of activities that make your life rich. It's time to get to work so you can get back to having fun. Vik