Hi everyone and welcome to another Musician’s Maintenance Weekly, where it’s my job to scour the internet for the actionable advice that will prevent pain and injury from limiting your playing.
This week I’ve got 1) An interview on overcoming injury 2) How to get the most out of physical therapy 3) How to know if you need a new physical therapist.
1. An interview on overcoming injury: Even the highest level musicians can (and do) get injured. Recently there was an amazing podcast where Dr. Renée-Paule Gauthier of Mind Over Finger interviewed one of America’s foremost violinists, Stefan Jackiw, about an injury that he sustained and his recovery process. Here’s some of the highlights I took away.
- The fact that he had to go through several medical practitioners before he found a physical therapist who specializes in working with musicians
- Even though he has returned to playing at a very high level, he takes maintaining his body seriously enough to continue seeing his physical therapist on a weekly basis
- The psychological influences of the injury
- His thoughts on how the psychological stressors of being a professional musician influenced the injury and his recovery
Most important though was his commentary on the stigma of injury among instrumentalists. Here’s a paraphrased quote (from ~minute 32 of the interview) that I think is particularly powerful.
“For athletes, it’s par for the course if you get injured… In tennis, people of the highest level withdraw from the finals of Wimbledon… because they are injured. It’s expected. Then they get better. And then they go on to be a top ranked player in the world. No one thinks that it’s because they are a bad tennis player that they got injured. Whereas in music there’s a little bit of, clearly they’re doing something wrong if they got injured”
The full interview is well worth the time, so go check it out. Plus you’ll get some tips on how to structure your practice as well.
Listen: Stefan Jackiw: Overcoming Injury | Mind Over Finger (58 min)
2. How to get the most out of physical therapy: Stefan had a successful experience with physical therapy, but not everyone does. Obviously you need to find a good physical therapist, but if you don’t engage in the process or show up expecting to be “fixed,” things still might not work out so well.
However, I came across a nice article that details how to get the most out of physical therapy. It’s from Outside Magazine, so it’s targeted towards outdoor athletes, but every one of the recommendations applies to musicians as well. Here’s the main points…
- Recognize when you need help (injuries are much easier to deal with early on)
- Choose the right physical therapist (finding the right fit can be hard, but worth it)
- Be a good historian
- Use physical therapy as an educational opportunity
- Over-communicate
- Actively participate
- Be patient
You may not be in physical therapy now, and I hope you stay healthy, but keep this article in mind in case you have to at some point. Also, if you have a friend or colleague who’s dealing with an injury, forward this along to them if you think it would be helpful.
Read: How to Get the Most out of Physical Therapy | Outside Magazine
3. How to know if you need a new physical therapist: As the article above points out, it’s important to find the right physical therapist, but that can be a difficult task for musicians. Unfortunately there aren’t that many of us who specialize in musician’s health. However, you can find a physical therapist with a good base skill set and point them in the direction of some good musicians health information.
Here’s the best article I’ve come across that can get your physical therapist (or other healthcare practitioner) up to speed on musicians health. It’s free, relatively short and fairly comprehensive. You can also use it as a test to determine if you’ve found a physical therapist worth working with. Here’s two signs that you may need to find someone else.
- If they don’t want to read the article, you have the wrong physical therapist. Move on to another. You need someone who is at least interested and willing to learn more about your particular needs.
- One of the differences in working with a musician versus a non-musician is that the exam needs to include the instrument! If they don’t observe your posture holding your instrument or how you move when you play your instrument, it’s time to find a new physical therapist.
Again, you may not be in physical therapy now, and hopefully you won’t need to, but tuck this resource away just in case you need it in the future. Or forward it on to a friend or colleague you think could use it.