When musical harmony collides with musculoskeletal disharmony

Autori

Silvia Saraceno (Università degli studi di Messina, Messina, Italy)

Francesco Bonanno (Università degli studi di Messina, Messina, Italy)

Francesca Sposito (Università degli studi di Messina, Messina, Italy)

Antonio Di Dio (Università degli studi di Messina, Messina, Italy)

Filippo Cavallaro (Università degli studi di Messina, Messina, Italy)

Veronica Bruno (Università degli studi di Messina, Messina, Italy)

Background and aims

A study by Cruder and colleagues analysed the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in 340 music students from various European institutions. Over 80% of the participants attributed their pain to musical activity. The most affected areas were neck, shoulders and upper limbs. Only 43% performed preparatory exercises before playing, and the management of breaks was often unstructured. The most surprising fact is that, despite their young age (average 22 years), many of these students were already living with chronic pain and functional limitations.

Methods

In the following years, we performed over one hundred postural assessments on people engaged in various non-musical activities. Despite the differences in contexts and activities, the problems encountered have many similarities with those highlighted in the study on musicians: cervical stiffness, scapular pain, low back pain and diffuse postural alterations. In 99% of cases, the triggering noxa is not an acute trauma, but the accumulation over time of micro-stress related to muscle weakness and lack of conscious movement. Even today, treatment is only sought when the pain is already chronic and often disabling.

Results

The role of the physiotherapist is not just to “cure pain”, but to help people prevent it. And this applies to everyone, regardless of their activity. Health also depends on conscious movement and good postural education. Preventive physiotherapy is, today more than ever, an essential public health tool. We have proposed a sheet of useful activities in order to make movement and posture conscious.

Conclusion

This comparison shows how prevention in physiotherapy should be considered a priority, not an option. An adequate functional assessment, accompanied by individualised movement education programmes, can significantly reduce the incidence of MSDs and improve quality of life, regardless of age or type of activity.

REFERENCES

Cruder, C., Barbero, M., Soldini, E. et al. Patterns of pain location in music students: a cluster analysis. BMC Musculoskelet Disord 22, 184 (2021). Kok LM et al. – the occurence of musculoskeletal complains among professional musicians: a sistematic review – int. arch. occup. environ health 2016