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Paul Manley - Central London Back Pain and RSI Clinic:
Phone: 07925 616 753 for an appointment. Email: info@paulmanley.co.uk
Anatomy for musicians: Musicians are athletes

I have been treating musicians problems for 30 years.

Career threatening conditions can result directly from playing and indirectly from other reasons including hypertonicity, over-use and RSI, trauma, inappropriate technique, bad posture, and occasionally, disease processes. The vast majority of cases that I have seen have been for muscle and joint problems and were therefore amenable to myo-articulation ( MA ). The application of MA can provide a much accelerated healing process. It combines muscle stretching and softening along the entire length of the individual muscles of the body.

 

Muscles, especially the deep muscles often become 'musclebound'.

In this ultra-tense state the muscles will ache and tire very rapidly. They are being starved of Oxygen. The nervous system has two ways of dealing with tense muscles. If the muscle being irritated for whatever reason is a superficial muscle i.e. one which is in the outer layer of muscles, then weakening and loss of bulk will often occur. However, if the muscles in question are the deep, supportive and postural muscles, they will tighten and shorten in response to irritation.

The deep muscles usually become tight when their associated joints have been used repetitively and, or have an injured joint or joint dislacement along the muscle's length. Every muscle in the body is in contact with at least one joint along its length. In the case of the hand and forearm many of the muscles must traverse multiple joints.

The article on repetitive strain injury of the forearm and hand contains a detailed analysis of this often problematic condition. You can read it by clicking here: RSI.

A testimonial
"I had tendinitis in both hands, after improper use of the muscles - playing difficult pieces in long practice sessions without breaks, without doing the necessary stretching exercises and without thinking about my body. The problems were on and off for about 2 years until I decided to suspend my playing for a year, to take time to think and to cure the problem. During this time I completely recovered with the great help of Paul. He not just cured effectively the problems with the muscles and the tendons (through a simple physiotherapy) but also gave me a very good knowledge which I still use to maintain myself in a good health and prevent injuries. I sent some of my colleagues from the Royal Academy of Music to him, as he is a great specialist dealing with musician's injuries (his understanding is even deeper as he himself plays the guitar). I am really grateful to Paul and will recommend him to anyone. There is hardly anything that is not completely curable from the musician's injuries! :-) "

Stanislav Hvartchilkov (classical guitarist)
www.hvartchilkov.com

 

 


7 case histories


Carpal mechanics


Forearm muscles


Hand muscles


Pianist


Muscle layers


Shoulder muscles


RSI Treatment

 

When you manipulate the interactive anatomy on-screen you should try to directly relate what you see on-screen to your own anatomy. If you have any specific questions about any related problem that you may be experiencing, then do not hesitate to email me, I will reply to you as soon as I can

 

Do you have a question?     Please email me ..... CLICK here
or you can call me on 07925 616 753 to discuss your problem.

Paul Manley Back Pain and RSI Clinic at The London Natural Health Centre,
46 Theobalds Rd, Holborn, London WC1X 8NW


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