Musicians and Chiropractic Care Achieve Perfect Harmony
Musicians are instrumental athletes. Just like professional sports athletes, musicians often practice for numerous hours per day to perfect their skills. There are specific mechanics and symptoms that go along with playing a musical instrument that usually get overlooked or pushed aside—posture, numbness in the fingers, pins and needles in the arms, or pain in the neck and upper back to name a few. Every time a musician practices their instrument, they overwork and underwork muscles. Simply put, the muscles that are used to play the instrument get stronger, tighter, shorter, and form scar tissue; the opposing muscles get weaker and are underdeveloped. This forms an imbalance in the body and puts stress on the joints, including the spine, elbows, wrists, and fingers.
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Repetitive strain injury (RSI) is a range of painful or uncomfortable conditions of the muscles, tendons, nerves, and other soft tissues, caused by repetitive use of a certain part of the body. Symptoms are often felt in the upper extremities (shoulders, elbow, wrists, and fingers). RSI is an injury of the musculoskeletal and nervous system that is the result of repetitive tasks, forceful exertions, vibrations, pressing against hard surfaces, or sustained or awkward positions. Chiropractic care not only works on spinal and joint alignment, but also works on the balance of body function within the nervous, skeletal, and muscular systems.
Chiropractic care is health care that focuses solely on the nervous system and optimizing the function of the human body. The nervous system is the body’s master system, controlling all of the organs, vessels, glands, and muscles. The spine protects the nervous system; that is why chiropractors check alignment of the neck and back. When a vertebra misaligns (rotates out of position with either vertebrae), it makes the hole where the nerve comes out smaller. This puts direct pressure on the nerve (pinched nerve) and causes dysfunction to the organ, vessel, gland, or muscle that the nerve is going to. This is called a subluxation. Simply, a subluxation is when the communication that the brain has with the body and the body has with the brain has an interruption.
What causes this misalignment and pressure on a nerve? Stress! Whether it is physical, chemical, or emotional, stress can cause dysfunction within the nervous system. Musicians have major physical stress. Repetitively playing an instrument in the same position and utilizing the same muscles over and over again puts major physical demands on the body. RSI, either combined with poor posture ergonomics or independent of each other, is direct physical stress that can cause subluxations in the spine or joints of the upper extremities.
Chiropractors are the only health care providers trained in detecting, analyzing, and correcting subluxations. Various techniques are used. However, the goal is the same: remove nervous system interference and allow the body to function and heal to its full potential. The goal of correcting subluxations of the joints of the upper extremities are the same: restore original and proper alignment of the joint to allow it to have normal and proper function.
Musicians who are serious about their craft, should consider getting checked by a chiropractor that adjusts both the spine and extremities. They may see enhanced performance, quicker reaction time, decreased pain in fingers, neck, and upper back, decreased tingling and numbness in arms and fingers, increased energy, less muscle fatigue while playing, and more relaxed muscles. Chiropractic care is simple; yet it is profound in its ability to help the body regain and maintain its health. If you play an instrument and want to avoid repetitive strain injury and poor posture related pains for good, find a musician-friendly chiropractor now!
Dr. Nikki Capasso is the director of King of Prussia Chiropractic and Rehabilitation. She has worked with numerous musicians. Her main focus is getting people well and helping their health and well-being excel. If you are in the Philly area and would like to schedule a check-up, or if you need help finding a chiropractor, contact her at 610-265-2301,?ingofprussiachiropractic@yahoo.com, or www.KopChiro.com.
—If you liked this article, you might also like our article about Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Click here.–
