Interview with David Murray
David Murray is a surgeon specialised in musician related medical injuries, working in London. According to this young doctor, expert in those kinds of injuries, a professional musician may suffer from the same injuries than a speecuber who practices too much.
When did you start using the Rubik cube, and why?
I started late, when I was in college. I was a victim of Rubik’s Cube fever, in my time, people were taking that hobby very seriously and I wanted to try.
You are a doctor specialied in musical-related injuries. How do you explain this specialty to people?
Paganini suffered a severe shoulder strain because of the way his cheek was positionned on the violin. My objective is to find a cure for musicians who suffer from those injuries.
What relationship do you think can have the Rubik’s cube with the instruments?
Abolute. As Dr. Rosset noticed back when he started this medical project, no matter how good a musican can be, he will no longer be able to play if he shrinks a finger. We could say the people who practise speedsolving are like those musicians who play very well, they are using their hands with the same risks. After many hours of practice, they end
up with tendinitis in the fingers.
Any remedy?
Fortunately, there are cures for nearly all those injuries. Usually, immobilizing the affected joint to reduce
If is better safe than sorry, what advice can you give us to not suffer from these ailments?
Luckily a speedcuber is not a speedcuber for only a day. At first, they are amateurs who need time to imporve their skills, that means that both hand muscles and tendons have enough time to adapt to this new practise and get stronger. Yet, we must avoid excessive hours of practice. Especially, you must stop practicing if you feel pain and take a few days off from time to time.Warming up your muscle before practise is very important.