Joseph Champlin* and Talia Anev* are two pianists who moved to America from Eastern Europe and became friends at the Manhattan School of Music. Champlin grew up in Belgium; whereas Anev is from Bulgaria. The two of them have been clients of Dr. Tatz, and his associate, Daniel Padmos for a few years now. They […]
Category Archives: Musicians
Treating wrists and forearms hurt from playing the violin
Tatz醫生的醫式好像中西醫運合的。他好像中醫會用全面的方法，但他也會用現代的機器而不會只是依靠傳統。 我是由於拉小提琴傷了手腕及前臂。我看了西醫物理治料而感到它們慣例的伸展活動和超聲波沒有效， 而Tatz醫生這樣完全明白。他第一眼見到我已經說我整身體緊。這個我已經知道，而我都下意識知道這個問題對我平常一舉一動有挺大的影響。可是，從來都沒有人(過去的物理治料師，健身教練等等)跟我應對過這個全面的問題。 Tatz 醫生會動生幫你按摩及鬆解你的肌肉。第一天他沒有對我的手腕或前臂做任何東西，他跟我說不想一天醫好我，而他只按了我的腰和背部。他也教我一些超輕柔的“運動”，是很微細的整體左右擺動。每次最後的15-20分鐘，他會放你在一部磁性機器下“睡覺”。下來的預約，他有按鬆我超繄的肩膀，腿等等，及教我多些擺動的運動。第三個預約，他按了我的手腕(不是無痛的!)，而我的手腕這大半年沒感到過這樣好。但是， Tatz 醫生也說，“We have a big project” (我們有一個大工程)。他要我用八星期，二十次見他。 Tatz 醫生是一個好人，也想醫好你。 他會多說，人愈用腦多，身體就愈繄。他多強調，我們的身體自然懂得動。他也說，身體放鬆“loose”,比強的身體好。 Dr Tatz’s style seems like a mix of Eastern and Western philosophies. He takes a holistic approach like Chinese doctors, but he also uses modern technology and doesn’t rely on tradition totally. I hurt my wrists and forearms from playing […]
Treatment of Trumpet Player’s Swollen and Stiff Right Hand Fingers
Bud is professional trumpet player. His strong hands have been crucial to his successful life as a musician. While his wife has spoken about Shmuel Tatz, PT, PhD since the time they met, Bud has been quietly skeptical about what a physical therapist can really do. Meanwhile, Tatz has taken care of three generations of […]
Rethinking Physical Therapy for Musicians
As natural as music is to the human ear, the same cannot be said for the process of making music. When compared to laughing, walking, crying, or even screaming, playing any instrument is not a natural function of the body. As musicians, we spend thousands of hours performing actions that our bodies are capable of, […]
Treatment of the Face for Trumpet Player
For trumpet players, and most wind instrumentalists, there is a lot of activity in the face muscles and scalp while playing and practicing. Though we spend many hours trying to make our playing feel natural, playing any instrument is not a natural activity compared to laughing, crying, or even screaming. From being in an unnatural […]
Flute Player’s Pulled Neck Muscle Treatment
Clara, a flute player, came in for therapy on Tuesday morning reporting that she was in too much pain to play her instrument and could not function normally during the day. She was exceptionally busy the previous week playing upwards of 8 hours a day and performing three concerts in one week. On the Monday […]
Musicians’ Doctor
Mondomusica New York 2014
Student Musicians’ Injury Treatment
I spoke with a client of Dr. Shmuel Tatz’s named Sarah, recently in the office after her treatment. She is a violinist at Mannes conservatory, which is part of the New School; the campus is on the upper West side. She came to Shmuel initially for about 3 months of treatment and by the end […]
Finding the Right Physical Therapist
For musicians, professionally related physical trauma can be one of the worst kinds of trauma because working musicians can repetitively, step-by-step, hour-by-hour continue to damage their bodies. Musicians’ injuries usually don’t happen overnight, and healing doesn’t happen in one day. It takes time. Injuries related to the music profession can become aggravated because they are […]
Tune Your Body
I’ve worked with thousands of musicians from Rosalyn Tureck, Mstislav Rostropovich and Issac Stern, to Leon Fleisher, Richard Goode and Gidon Kremer. Most of the pianists I have seen have had good training in the mechanics of playing the instrument properly: how to sit… the importance of arm weight and relaxation… and having a nicely […]