Why do Musicians and Band Members Get Back & Neck Pain?

Playing musical instruments can be a pain in the neck.

I was at a high school symphony band concert and was struck by the extremely poor posture and “forward head posture” of many of the musicians.

Even though a lot of young people have “forward heads,” it was much more so with the musicians than with the general student population.

Why would this be?

Most of us hold our arms and heads in front of us most of the day, but musicians–musical athletes–hold their instruments for extended periods without the opportunity to stretch or relax the muscles that support their instruments.

What could help?  Stretching, strengthening and massage.

The muscles in the front of the body support the instrument.  The are the ones that are contracted and shortened simply due to the work they do.

Strengthening your back will help and so will stretching the muscles in the front of your body.

Massage therapy would also help but which muscles should be massaged?

The muscles that would need the most pre- and post-event treatment would mostly be the ones that SHORTEN during practice and performance.

This does NOT mean the areas of complaint.  The complaining areas of muscle  are most often SYMPTOMS and not the cause of the pain.  The shortened, front-of-body muscles would need the most massage or stretching to help them get back to normal resting length.

Before a performance, a general full body stretch or massage “warm up” should work well with emphasis on stretching all of the muscles in front.

Unfortunately, many massage therapists do a “full body” warming massage while avoiding working on the front of the neck, chest, abdomen, front of thighs and inside of thighs. 🙁  Those areas need warming too–those are the shortened muscles–and shouldn’t be avoided.  They need it the most!

After a performance, I would suggest again that the muscles that were shortened (usually the muscles in the front of the body) get the most stretching or massage even though the back muscles may be the ones complaining.

Rather than just work where the pain (symptom) is, a massage therapist or musician should ask:

• Okay, what’s attached to the wrist?
• What’s attached to the neck?
• Which part of the leg gets the most worked when performing?  Front, back, gluteal muscles (butt)?  Upper, lower?
• Which muscles pull the head forward?

A massage therapist who is really good will thoughtfully assess the client and their activities  and work on the CAUSES of pain and not just SYMPTOMS.  That’s when you will have the most pain relief in your neck and back.

And now I’d like to invite you to visit another of my natural pain relief websites:  SimpleBackPainRelief.com