Short answer: Warm up before you play, take regular breaks, stop immediately if you feel pain, and increase your practice time gradually.
Overuse injuries, often called repetitive strain injuries (RSI), can affect pianists who repeat the same movements for long periods while playing with unnecessary tension. The good news is that most of these problems can be prevented with healthy practice habits.
Build Up Your Practice Time Gradually
Your hands, wrists and forearms need time to adapt to piano playing. If you normally practise for 15 minutes a day, jumping straight to a three-hour session at the weekend is likely to overload your muscles and tendons.
Increase your practice time slowly and allow your body to adjust as your playing develops.
Take Regular Breaks
One of the simplest ways to prevent overuse injuries is to interrupt repetitive movements.
Set a timer for about 25 minutes. When it rings, stand up, stretch your arms, shake out your hands and look away from the keyboard for a couple of minutes before continuing.
Pain Is a Warning Signal
Tired muscles after practising are normal. Sharp, burning or stabbing pain in your fingers, wrists or forearms is not.
If you experience pain, stop playing immediately. Trying to play through pain often makes the problem worse and may force you to take an extended break from the piano.
Once the discomfort has disappeared, review your posture and hand position before practising again. In most cases, correcting the underlying cause is far more effective than simply trying to tolerate the pain.
