This topic is lamentably close to my heart. Injuries can be devastating for musicians and they can come from a variety of sources: overuse, accidents, illnesses, even physical attacks and natural disasters. The bottom line is ... they really stink.
Here's a video from the University of Colorado's Musicians' Wellness Initiative:
Some links, including ones on injury prevention:
* Musicians' Injuries: Types and How to Avoid Them By Espie Estrella
* Face and neck stretches for musicians
* Musician and injury: Janet Horvath has articles such as "Onstage Tricks to Stay Well" and "Protect your ears."
* Help for Lip Injury for Musicians
* Psychology of the Injured Musician from The Life of a Musician: Robin Hill.
* The Injured Musician -- A Taboo Subject?
* A Painful Melody: Repetitive Strain Injury Among Musicians by Tamara Mitchell, edited by Sally Longyear.
* Musicians with injuries, a group for string players
* A list of injury-related links from Musical Online.com
* Lots more links from Musicians Way, including a bunch of stuff about protecting hearing
* Medical Problems of Performing Artists Symposium July 20-23, 2013 in Colorado
* I poked around to see if there was a list of famous musicians who overcame injuries (or maybe who couldn't overcome them). I didn't see one, but here's 10 famous musicians with disabilities. Also, TopTenz' Top Ten Disabled Musicians.
Tabatha, I don't believe I've ever given a thought to this problem. My brother (percussion) & sister (viola & piano) are musicians, but so far they've escaped. Thank goodness, because they make their living from doing. Thanks for the interesting, though sad, topic.
ReplyDeleteThese injuries really do stink. They really are devastating, and all we can do is hope the musician can find another outlet for their talent.
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