The repetitive nature of playing your instrument, puts you at a higher risk of suffering a repetitive stress type of injury. Too many musical careers are needlessly postponed or brought to an end because of debilitating pain in a wrist, elbow, shoulder or neck, don’t let yours be the next.

Here are just some of the career ending RSI related injuries that musicians continue to suffer:

• Bursitis – inflammation of a bursa, which is a sac of fluid that provides frictionless movement between surfaces in a joint. Often caused by continual, excessive friction in a joint. I remember treating a drummer who had suffered a bursitis in his shoulder, which totally stopped him playing for over a month.

• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome – compression of the median nerve in the wrist, resulting in numbness, tingling, pain and decreased range of motion in the wrist and first 3 fingers.

• DeQuervain’s Syndrome – inflammation of the tendon sheath to the thumb, causing problems with gripping.

• Tendonitis – when muscles are overused or repetitively put through an awkward range of motion, the tendons will often become swollen and inflamed. Joints such as fingers, wrists, elbows and shoulders are at most risk for musicians. Pain will worsen and range motion continue to decrease if proper treatment is not received.

• Thoracic Outlet Syndrome – compression of the nerves and/or blood vessels that travel from the neck, through the shoulder and into the arm. This can result in pain, weakness, numbness and tingling in several areas such as the neck, shoulder or arm.

These are just a sample of the different names given to conditions stemming from simply overusing or repetitively misusing a certain joint or group of muscles.

What is happening every time you play:

You might be wondering what is actually happening under the surface when you’re playing and why it can lead to these sorts of problems.

You simply weren’t designed to be stuck in one position or doing the same motion for hours on end, like you do in practise and performance. When this happens often enough,

our muscles form unbalanced patterns. These imbalances then cause pressure to build up, usually in the most vulnerable places such as joints. Once pressure builds up to a certain point where the structures can no longer handle it effectively, you will experience pain.

Other contributing factors

Repetitive motion is not the only thing that will lead to an RSI. Incorrect posture and the standard musicians lifestyle of late nights, fast food with little to no nutritional value and not enough water puts a huge strain on the bodies central nervous system. This further increases the risk of developing one of the injuries described above.

What you can do:

Having said all these horrible and scary things, I don’t want you to get up from reading this article and feel like there’s no hope of avoiding RSI problems. There are definitely musicians out there that enjoy healthy careers, but they are either very lucky or realise that this is their passion and livelihood, so do their best to look after themselves and get professional treatment if something goes wrong.

Imagine for a moment what it would be like if you couldn’t play your instrument, how frustrating and soul destroying that would be. Don’t you think it’s worth a bit of your time to learn how to look after yourself so it doesn’t have to happen?

To leave you, here are a few tips to help combat the risk of RSI:

• Warm up before playing and warm down after. This can be done by running through slow, controlled scales for a couple of minutes.

• Take regular breaks. It’s being in that one position and doing that same motion for too long that does the damage, so try to have regular breaks where you move and stretch away from your instrument. Aim to not play for more than an hour without one (preferably every 30-45mins).

• Think of your posture. The reason our parents and teachers nag us so much about this is because it’s so important.

• Try to get a healthy amount of sleep (6-8hrs).

• Aim to drink 6-8 glasses of water (not in the form of soft drinks) per day, and more when you’re performing.

• Try to eat a little more healthily, such as more fresh fruit and vegetables, and less precessed, fast food……Ok now I’m really starting to sound like your mum so I’m going to stop there.

Actually one more important one: if you’re experiencing pain, go see a professional (such as a Skeletal Harmonics musculoskeletal or remedial massage therapist). Pain is your body’s warning sign that something needs to be fixed, pushing through it will only make things worse and the problems spread. Do yourself a favour and you could save yourself a lot of pain and frustration.

If you would like a $20 off voucher for your next treatment- just put your name in one of the categories boxes and I will email you your voucher!

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Please Contact us at the clinic today if you need someone to help you relax and release your tension from School, Uni, Work, Homelife or Sports!

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Bulimba (07) 3899 5099

Paddington (07) 3867 1950

We provide Massage for Musicians at the largest music festivals around Australia. We provide therapeutic treatments, rehabilitation and relaxation to the performers backstage with no access to the public.

If you would like more information regarding Skeletal Harmonics working at your next festival please contact Kaja Quinn directly at kaja@skeletalharmonics.com

Specific Injuries we have seen and treated

* Vocal cord strain

* Facial and neck muscle strain

* Focal dystonia of vocal cord muscles

* Facial ristrictions around ribs and diagphram

Specific Injuries we are quite common:

* Neck pain

* Flexor and extensor tenosynoviitis of thumbs

* Extensor carpi radialis tendinitits (left)

* Medial epicondylitis (left)

* Flexor Hallucis Longus tenosynovitis of big toe (R)

* Triceps tendinitis (right)

* Focal dystonia of index and middle fingers and thumb (right)

* Thoracic outlet Syndrome (Left)

* Carpal tunnel syndrome (left)

* Flexor carpi ulnaris tendinitis (left)

* Strain of dorsal interosseous (left)

Specific Injuries we have seen and treated:

* Neck pain

* Ulnar nerve entrapment (left)

* Flexor carpi ulnaris tendinitis (left)

* Rotator cuff tendinitis (right)

* Extensor carpi radialis tendinitis (right)

* Neck Pain

* TMJ dysfunction

* Thoracic outlet Syndrome (Left)

* Neck pain

* Carpal tunnel syndrome (left)

* Cubital tunnel syndrome (left)

* Flexor carpi ulnaris tendinitis (left)

* Rotator Cuff tendinits (right)

* Extensor carpi radialis tendinitits (right)

* Neck Pain

* TMJ dysfunction

* Thoracic outlet Syndrome (Left)

* Neck pain

* Carpal tunnel syndrome (left)

* Cubital tunnel syndrome (left)

* Flexor carpi ulnaris tendinitis (left)

* Rotator Cuff tendinits (right)

* Extensor carpi radialis tendinitits (right)

Guitar

* Triceps tendinitis (right)

* Focal dystonia of index and middle fingers and thumb (right)

* Thoracic outlet Syndrome (Left)

* Carpal tunnel syndrome (left)

* Flexor carpi ulnaris tendinitis (left)

* Strain of dorsal interosseous (left)

Cello/Strings Bass

* Neck pain

* Ulnar nerve entrapment (left)

* Flexor carpi ulnaris tendinitis (left)

* Rotator cuff tendinitis (right)

* Extensor carpi radialis tendinitis (right)

Harp

* Neck pain

* Flexor and extensor tenosynoviitis of thumbs

* Extensor carpi radialis tendinitits (left)

* Medial epicondylitis (left)

* Flexor Hallucis Longus tenosynovitis of big toe (R)

Vocals

* Vocal cord strain

* Facial and neck muscle strain

* Focal dystonia of vocal cord muscles

* Facial ristrictions around ribs and diagphram

Saxophone

* Upper back and neck pain

* Extensor carpi radialis tendinitits (left and right)

* TMJ dysfunction

* Focal dystonia of thena muscles of hand (right)

Clarinet

* TMJ dysfunction

* Carpal tunnel syndrome

* De Quervains syndrome (right)

* Lateral epicondylits (right and left)

* TMJ dysfunction

Bassoon

* Back and Neck pain

* TMJ dysfunction

* Dental problems

* Strain of teres major and pec major (right)

* De quervains syndrome

Oboe

* Extensor carpi radialis tendinitits (left)

* Lateral epicondylits (right)

* Ulnar nerve entrapment (right)

* Posterior interosseous nerve entrapment (right)

* Back and neck pain

* De Quervains syndrome

Flute

* Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (left and right)

* Ulnar nerve entrapment (left)

* Extensor carpi radialis tendinitits (left)

* Back and neck pain

* De quervains syndrome (left and right)

* Focal dystonia or ring and little fingers (left)

* Bursitis in the shoulder (right)

Trombone/Tuba

* Focal dystonia of lip

* Lateral epicondylisits ( right)

* Strain of orbicularis oris

Bagpipes

* Focal dystonia or ring and middle finger (right)

Trumpet

* Maxillofacial and lip trauma

* Pharyngeal dilation

French Horn

* TMJ dysfunction

* Strain of extensor carpi radialis (right)

* Strain of dorsal wrist Ligaments(right)

* Strain of orbicularis oris

Percussion

* Lateral and medial epicondylitis

* Flexor carpi ulnaris tendinitis

* Extensor carpi radialis tendinitis

* De quervains syndrome

* Carpal tunnel syndrome

* Achilles tendinitis

Keyboards/ Piano/ Organ/ Accordion

* Thoracic outlet syndrome

* Medial and lateral epicondylisis

* Tendinitis of wrist flexors and extensors

* Carpal tunnel syndrome

* De quervains syndromes

* Dorsal wrist ganglion

* Focal dystonia of thumb, finger, hand, and foot muscles