Becoming a Healthier Guitarist: Understanding and Addressing Injuries

Abstract

The field of performance arts medicine is supplying musicians with alarming statistics regarding their health. Authors give statistics as high as 93% when discussing the injury rate among instrumentalists. As guitar is one of the instruments listed with the highest incidence of playing-related injuries, this work addresses the types of injuries to which musicians, including guitarists, are prone, as well as their causes and treatment. Musicians often tend to neglect proper treatment for playing related injuries, which leads to the conclusion that investing time in prevention methods is the best choice in regards to injuries. The efficacy of common routines for injury prevention such as warming-up, taking breaks, among others, has proven statistically to be successful. Studies show that warm-up routines and periodic breaks from music practice seem to be effective against playing-related injuries; the benefits of stretching, however, remain controversial. Since some of the injuries investigated are preventable to a large extent through technical adjustments, informed suggestions for guitarists are included. Though the solutions presented are not necessarily the only ones available, they are supported by studies in performing arts medicine.