{"id":505,"date":"2014-03-18T13:07:28","date_gmt":"2014-03-18T17:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nyphysicaltherapist.com\/blog\/?p=505"},"modified":"2014-03-18T13:07:28","modified_gmt":"2014-03-18T17:07:28","slug":"student-musicians-injury-treatment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nyphysicaltherapist.com\/blog\/2014\/03\/student-musicians-injury-treatment\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Musicians’ Injury Treatment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\tI spoke with a client of Dr. Shmuel Tatz\u2019s<\/a> named Sarah, recently in the office after her treatment<\/a>.\u00a0 She is a violinist at Mannes conservatory, which is part of the New School; the campus is on the upper West side.\u00a0 She came to Shmuel initially for about 3 months of treatment and by the end she showed significant improvement.<\/p>\n

Most importantly, she is now able to play again with ease and more comfortably. She feels much better overall.\u00a0 She gave a glowing review of Shmuel\u2019s abilities, \u201cHe is wonderful, he is the best<\/a>, he is better than everyone else I’ve seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

She is never sore after a treatment and is able to play at events and concerts the same day, which is a concern for musicians I\u2019ve learned. In many cases musicians in physical therapy<\/a> may have to schedule therapy<\/a> on days they don’t play, because you don’t want to be sore from a treatment on the day of a performance.<\/p>\n

The young student said that her school does not have any formal support programs in place to help musicians who are experiencing pain from playing their instruments.\u00a0 She wished that they did have this option available, as many need physical therapy services<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Musicians suffer from a lot of different types of pain that comes from playing their instruments repeatedly \u2013 hands, elbow, shoulder and neck pain, muscle stiffness, soreness, tension or numbness on the fingers, jaw, back and shoulders. Wind instrumentalists are prone to ear, nose, throat, neck, shoulder and arm injuries.<\/p>\n

The awkward nature of many instruments can actually cause physical injury. For example for many pianists incorrect movements of hands can cause them to stay in strained, stiff positions over time.<\/p>\n

There are syndromes such as “overplayed hands” that can be caused by\u00a0incorrect positioning during lessons and exercises. When a\u00a0student feels discomfort in\u00a0playing and keeps practicing without changing anything, over time multiple repetitions may make it more difficult to\u00a0play. But students often don’t have a\u00a0clue that they\u2019re playing with the wrong movements.<\/p>\n

Many music students play through debilitating pain because doctors cannot find anything wrong with their elbow or shoulder or fingers or neck.\u00a0 Music students report that constant pain slowly shrinks their repertoire and saps their confidence.\u00a0\u00a0 Playing hurt doesn\u2019t lead to resolution of the injuries.<\/p>\n

Musicians and conservatory students may need physical therapy but suffer in silence with pain and career anxiety due to a lack of support or affordable referral from their school.<\/p>\n

Some of the reasons for repetitive chronic pain are:<\/p>\n