Piano Answers

We have an artificial wood flooring in our kitchen. Over the last year, esp. below the refrigerator water dispenser we’ve greatly damaged our floor from all the drips of water from doing the dishes, cooking, etc.
We were amazed when we lifted some carpeting under our piano how beautiful & shiny it originally was. Now we’re sad because we obviously don’t know how to take care of this flooring.
I’m not sure what type of floor it is… We dropped a hammer on it & gouged it & it appears that it has a thin top surface & the main body of the floor is some type of cheaper wood or other wood-like material; it’s a cheap house.
What is the best way to:
1) Repair the water damage… Can a laminate floor (or whatever) it is be stripped? I believe we CAN NOT sand it because the top layer is so thin. Would I just go to Home Depot or Lowe’s & ask for stripping products?
2) How can I protect our floor going forward? Consumer wax products seem to last a couple of weeks then go dull… not a permanent solution. Can I go to a hardware store & buy a polyurethane-type varnish & paint it on as a longer-term solution?

I’ve had slight ringing in my ears for a little while (tinnitus, I suppose), as well as random slight pain that will come & go at random. I know listening to my iPod too loud, & a concert or two I’ve been too can do some damage… I also take piano lessons, & wondering if playing the piano is loud enough to cause hearing damage?

I’m a 13 year old female…
And lately, when I play the piano, my left hand kind of goes numb & occasionally I have sharp pains shooting through my wrist. The numbness can affect my entire hand, but the main area of pain is my wrist. I play a lot of piano, & I can get *really* rough with it, meaning that I play loud & hard, & that I move around the piano a lot. I’ve done reading on carpal tunnel syndrome before, but my understanding is that it only affects adults.