Emily Duncan looks great playing the flute. Duncan, a New Yorker, and Juilliard graduate, is 28 years old. She has performed in concert halls around the world, as well as off-Broadway musicals, and even toured with a symphony orchestra playing only David Bowie songs. Duncan, a lifelong musician, was living the dream until she suffered a minor injury that could have prevented her from achieving her goals.
Duncan had lost one of his hands. The symptoms began with tingling and then progressed slowly to constant pain and numbness in her hands. Her ability to play and her emotional well being were profoundly affected.
Duncan stated, “It was pretty devastating.” “Being a musician for me is more than a job. It’s a vocation and a way to live.
Duncan kept her injury secret for four years. She endured many doctor’s visits and physical therapy appointments as well as painful steroid injections. However, she was unable to receive a definitive diagnosis and could not be provided with long-term pain relief. Surgery was an option, but she was afraid it would permanently damage her nerves and make it impossible to play music.
Duncan was in pain and emotionally devastated by her job being put on hold. She reached out to an occupational therapy specialist at the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York City. She was looking for a unique protocol for treating musicians injured.
Aviva Wolff was the first to develop a new way of treating sore arms and hands. Advanced motion analysis and technology were used for professional sports or movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease.
Wolff, who was trained as a hand therapist and saw the equipment first in her HSS lab, immediately recognized its potential. No offense to the feet. But there are limited activities you can do with your legs, such as walking, kicking and dancing. What about our hands and arms? “We do hundreds and even hundreds of different things,” Wolff started to study biomechanics in the upper body.
Some estimates suggest that as high as 90% of professional musicians are affected by an overuse injury due to poor posture or improper form. Wolff stated that it is also a problem for amateur musicians, particularly those who are self-taught.
New York City was Wolff’s favorite place to study professional musicians suffering from upper extremity pain, particularly guitarists, violinists and violists. Carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis or bursitis at the elbows or shoulder are some of the most common injuries.
Wolff attaches motion sensors and analyzes each musician’s playing using multiple cameras in her lab. This is similar to the work done by conditioning coaches and athletic trainers with professional athletes to improve their golf swings, basketball jump shots, or pitching forms. Wolff can detect abnormalities in the hand and body positions of musicians who are suffering from chronic pain.
Although they are similar in many ways, athletes and musicians have different bodies in one important aspect of their performance. Wolff stated that musicians must play with no tension, unlike athletes. Professional musicians can look light because they are using their bodies optimally. It’s effortless. That’s what you want.
Tomo Fujita is a professional guitarist who is also an associate professor at Berklee College of Music, Boston. He said that there are two types of injuries: music and sports.
Although athletes are open about their injuries and treatment, it is a different reality for musicians, particularly classical players like Duncan.
Fujita stated, “If you claim you have pain it could be taken to mean that you have weakness.” “It’s almost like you’re saying that you aren’t as good a musician.”
Fujita admitted that musicians and educators spend very little time teaching how to avoid injury, which is not the case with sports coaches. Fujita stated that he would love to see someone teach the concept that you can get hurt if you play an instrument in a certain way.
It needs to be stressed more than just being something you receive every three months in a newsletter about.
Wolff is currently working on an injury prevention and treatment program for conservatories, orchestras and other organizations. It includes anatomy lessons, stretches, and exercises specific to each instrument. Her medical colleagues are also being educated by her motion analysis lab research that shows how to get injured musicians back into playing in the short-term, and in better condition for the long-term.
She said, “We aren’t educated enough about the demands of musicians.” “The musculoskeletal system, and our bodies, are healing machines. There are many solutions.
Wolff, as she does with all her patients, created a custom “return-to-play” plan for Duncan using the motion analysis data.
One surprising thing: Although Duncan felt pain in her hand, Wolff identified an area that could be causing the pain. It was the upper back muscles.
Duncan stated, “It was very illuminating for me to hear her say, “You’re feeling symptoms here in your wrist and hands, but actually, strengthening these muscles in your back will help your symptoms.”
Duncan now feels confident about her future, and that she will be able to continue doing what she loves most in the place that she loves.
She said, “Slowly but surely New York is coming back. I’m returning.” It’s great to be able again to make music.
