Musicians risk greater strain at holidays: PhD
Repeat movements during concert season can tax muscles, ligaments
Listening to an orchestral rendition of Jingle Bells at a tinsel-clad concert hall undoubtedly invokes holiday cheer. But professional musicians may not be celebrating after the final coda.
Musicians face an increased risk of repetitive strain injuries during the holiday season, according to a University of Alberta researcher.
“More than half of musicians in Canada are self-employed and there’s that temptation to pick up as much work as you can,” said Christine Guptill, a professor of occupational therapy and a classically trained oboe player.
Studies estimate that more than 80 per cent of professional musicians encounter a workplace injury, such as repetitive strain or nerve compression, she said: “It’s not something that usually goes away and doesn’t come back.”
Guptill said she was spending about 40 hours a week at rehearsals during university, in addition to time spent practising the repertoire on her own. “I had some numbness and tingling in my hands (and) I had a lot of back pain,” she said, noting that symptoms can be mistaken for carpal tunnel syndrome. “I had gotten a lot of different diagnoses.”
In serious cases, the injuries risk a musician’s entire career.
Pianist Peter Jancewaicz, 58, said he was diagnosed with a repetitive stress injury 20 years ago.
“It was like fire in the back of my hands,” he said. “To be a good musician, you need to repeat and repeat.
“I had just been playing too much and with less than perfect technique. I felt more and more pain.... I felt as some point I better stop playing.”
Jancewaicz eventually sought help from a specialist in New York. It would take him three years to be able to play piano again. He rebuilt his technique from scratch to treat the injury and prevent it from recurring.
“I think the depression was worse than the actual physical injury,” he said. “There’s also a psychological side to technique, being calm and relaxed and trying not to worry when you’re performing.”
Alexander Cohen, principal timpanist for the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, said he has dealt with a torn ligament and tendinitis in his hand for the past eight years.
He noted that at one point, about 10 per cent of the musicians in the orchestra were on leave for disability.
“That’s the extreme end of the spectrum,” he said. “We do minute movements, using tiny little muscles.”
“One thing that really gives me a lot of optimism regarding the health of the industry is … a lot of the top schools are bringing in (techniques) in order to build student awareness in how they’re using themselves.”
Guptill teaches young musicians how to prevent injuries, such as taking a five-minute break every 30 minutes and warming up before playing an instrument.
“You need to think of it as a physical warm-up, treating yourself like an athlete ... getting your body ready for activity.”