anemia from bongo playing - no fear, just caution

[yoni]

Hi all,

In my very first post a couple years ago on the forum I opened a "can of worms" by saying I once read that excessive hand drumming can sometimes lead to anemia.

I had read, and explained here, that hard blows can pop some red blood cells running through capillaries in the hands and fingers and eventually be passed out through the urine (it had happened to me once or twice and to one or two others on the forum, if I recall).

I said I would try to provide sources to back up what I was saying, and now 2 years later, I finally can.

I finally thought to type "anemia from bongo playing" in the yahoo search engine, and several articles on the subject popped up.

So if you'd like to learn more on this, just type that phrase in a search engine and you'll see what I mean.

My intent is not to be negative or to scare anyone. I'll not stop playing and will continue to try to play nutty as ever at times. It's just a not-too-familiar potential hazard of our instrument, something not to be feared, but to be aware of.

Saludos, Shalom, Salaam, Peace, All the best,
yoni