[Injuries] Going through the ONI phrase

If anyone of you out there plays oni in arcade, you will realize that some point of time when you train more oni, you'll get your hands injured, bleeding, pain, with blisters, skin torn etc etc.. and the list goes on..

Despite all these, those who are enthusiastic enough will still challenge oni songs again - mostly trying to endure the pain on your injured hands/arms while at the same time, trying to concentrate on the notes scrolling past.

For torn skin and bleeding areas, I've tried different types of plasters, but none of them stays long after a few oni songs. However, i highly recommend you all to get the "Finger Strips" from Hansaplast. It's sold at around $3 at Singapore ntuc for 16 strips pack.
This is how the product looks like:
Click me - Hansaplast Finger Strips


To my surprise, this Finger strip do not even peel off by itself when i'm playing. In fact, i don't even need to change after i play like tons of round of only 8-9* oni songs and it's still intact there comfortably. Somehow, i don't really notice my pain there when i play too. ((Which is so different when i'm using those normal band aids that peels off easily which halfway playing a song, you feel sudden pain.))

As for blisters, don't peel it off or break it like what i used to do. Trust me. It heals even faster when you don't peel it off yourself.



So this thread is dedicated to all and whoever has something good to share about what works best to heal your injuries etc. =D

The thing I can only say is that, when you feel that your hands are getting more and more painful, STOP right away and take a break from Taiko.

Also, remember to warm up your hands before you Taiko (like warming up before doing a workout, running, marathon)

Just know your limits and don't go beyond it. And most importantly, if you have an arm injury, don't play Taiko until it is healed completely, it will make your injuries worsen.

And yes, for blisters, don't break it no matter what happens. Just let it be. Breaking it off = more pain as well.

Maybe wearing fingerless gloves could help as well, can anyone clarify this?

Fingerless gloves doesn't help if the blisters and injuries are on the fingers itself. haha.

But it depends on each individual though.

I guess it really depends on where your blisters tend to develop. Haha. I don't get blisters anymore from playing, for some reason. Or maybe that's because I play using the arcade bachi with the rubber tubing. Great protection! But it does put quite a bit of weight on the bachi though, so for people who prefers a lighter bachi, maybe this is not that good a way to protect your hands.

Rubber Tubing bachi never fails to get my finger skin torn and raw each time i used it last time.

So i guess it's up to the individual. haha

Rubber tubing do helps 3 ways, to protect your hands (look at the arcade bachi, it's chipped with all sort of sharp edges/splints.) For grip wise, and to protect your bachi from getting chipped or "oily" from your palm sweat.

But however, due to the amount of friction produced, it wouldn't surprise me to have your skin torn. They have their own advantages/disadvantages as well.

I'm planning to get one soon.

Also, choose a bachi that is suitable for yourself, it does help as well. As when you're more comfortable with your own desired bachi, you wouldn't injure your hand due to like, the bachi being too heavy to you (shoulder pain). Or when it is too light to you, you would whack the drums hard, therefore, the risk of spraining your hands.

Hehe I am going to take back what I said about the rubber tubing on the arcade bachi being good protection. Since then I've stopped using the bachi with tubing (the "blue" bachi at DTE no longer has rubber tubing and has since splintered quite badly, but the red bachi appears to be in okay condition still), and I still have no blisters. Recently I've started my oni phase and I still don't have blisters I'm quite amazed at my hands.

That said, I was wondering if anyone ever had their hands/arms go into cramps while playing? Or feel like it might start cramping halfway into the song? I stretched a bit after playing two songs, and felt that my right arm might start cramping. It was quite a strenuous round by my standards, muzu 6*, oni 6* (I think), and final song was muzu 8*. Needless to say I didn't manage to do well for the 8* song because I was quite scared of getting cramp so didn't dare to hit fast enough. Ended up missing quite a number of hits

Mint wrote:
That said, I was wondering if anyone ever had their hands/arms go into cramps while playing? Or feel like it might start cramping halfway into the song?

Tell me about it. Last time, i remember i got the feeling of cramps at the triceps halfway through the song, then at the the end of the song, i seriously got cramps.
Darn painful.

Taiko is as much a sport as a leisure activity. Please do proper warming up and cooling down to avoid unnecessary injuries.

Example: finger flexing, wrist rotation, biceps/triceps stretching

ongchinkai wrote:Taiko is as much a sport as a leisure activity. Please do proper warming up and cooling down to avoid unnecessary injuries.

Example: finger flexing, wrist rotation, biceps/triceps stretching

An example of taking taiko too seriously LOL XDDDDDD omg chinkai somehow its funny cuz i did that last time too! xDXD!

But i don't do warmups or cooldowns yet no injuries x.x" stretchstretch* xD

I don't do warmups etc. So far only that time having cramp. Other than that it's okie. xD

I find it sooooo odd doing warmups though! =/

It's not a case of taking taiko too seriously. I just don't want to injure myself playing, and warming up and cooling down reduces injury risk.

(I'm a computer; everything is logic to me.)

ya true though.. just do minor stretching don't need do those classics x.x like full body rotation or something like that xDDDbut it looks abit weird as minty has said tho.

if is doing body warm-up then is weird.. zzz.. finger/hand warm-up maybe can.. preventing ur hand to be so tiring.. haha =)

Who said anything about full-body warming up?! Of course I meant the hands and arms, duh

Not sure if this happens to everyone, but when you constantly challenge songs above your level, after some time your hands will feel the result - in my case, tired wrists and blisters/abrasions.

initially. soon enough you won't. it's kind of like doing chin ups.

Perhaps it's because I'm not exactly a "seasoned" oni player, but playing a lot of oni songs in a day has resulted in my finger joints aching. All ten fingers =/ Tried to alleviate the pain by pasting medicated plasters on each finger but the process of tearing and pasting is quite a pain in itself already.

My abrasions come from my extremely short bachi. Think if I tried to hit the 2000 series songs in oni I will get abrasions that are similar to minor cases of rope burn on the knuckles.

Don't know if I would prefer blisters to aching joints and bruised knuckles.

Personally, i feel that it's "getting used to it".
One day, you will finally find that you're no longer having very painful episodes cos' you're sort of "conditioned" to it. =D

lol nowadays i dun care about the pain anymore. Just keep playing oni again and again. Today I think I played 5+ games in a row without stopping =p plaster helped (thanks chinkai)

think im getting the finger strips...i am wasting 2 plasters per day, my hand and wrist pain like heck, but if 1 day dun play i feel very weird...maybe should just play muzu 7-8 stars

It's nice that you're that keen on improving yourself, but overdoing it is a big no-no. Personally I'm reverting back to my weekly visit, because I'm starting to feel the effects of burnout in my left hand (weak response, dull aches etc).

hmm...now must practice use 2 hands...my right hand pain due to excessive use...

Okay,i know this sounds bimbo and act smart,but it does help(although my taiko experience isn't that much)
Basically,in first aid,i've handled people who suffer abrasions(i all sorts of funny areas) as well as joint pain(in all sorts of funny areas too).
The cause of all these are due to the methods of execution of actions.
Meaning,to all those who get pains here there everywhere,it does not mean we go plaster-hunting. We should go cause-hunting.
Mainly,in taiko,there is two general groups which we can classify the taiko-ists.
1)the finger players
2)the pounders i would recommend you people to see how you play before reading on.
The finger players base their actions more on finger-flexing and swift movements.The pounders exert large(or at least,seemingly large) amounts of force on their strikes.
For the finger players,they tend to not suffer rebound injuries as their bachi can swing backwards without landing on their palms. however,they experience heavy friction on their fingers as well as(in some unfortunate cases) severe stress on the joints.
The hard-core pounders suffer full rebounds on each strike,but no friction due to the fact that their bachi doesn't get to swing,its rooted to the palm.
Some of us are at intermmediate levels of variation between these two extremes,and there are other forms of more defined styles that i've yet to mention.
i do tend to watch you experts play,so i roughly know your styles,but that doesn't mean that i'm an expert analyst. you guys know yourselves best,and you guys would be in the best position to define your styles. However,if anyone wants mi to help you spot your style,weakness and helpful tips on how the flaws can be overcome,i'd be happy to do so.
till then,adios amigo!