📹 First aid
Here you will find common problems that musicians can suffer from – from pain in the shoulders and hands to stress, tinnitus, and voice problems – and what you can do about them.
In each section, there is a brief description of causes and solutions, as well as videos with specific exercises and advice to help you return to sustainable and pain-free playing.
The Body and the Instrument - Basic Ergonomics
Playing an instrument often involves considerable physical demands. Here are some general tips to help you find a better balance and reduce strain:
Create stability when sitting and standing. Start with exercises to stabilize your shoulder blades and torso. This will give you a feeling of lightness in your arms and reduce the risk of strain. → See: Sitting stability / Standing stability
Keep your body symmetrical. Try to keep your shoulders and shoulder blades as even as possible. If the instrument is heavy, feel free to use a strap or other support to relieve the strain.
Train your hand stability. Problems with hands, thumbs, and forearms are common—but often preventable with the right training.
→ Watch: Hand exercises
For those who play wind instruments
Bring the instrument to your mouth – not the other way around. This reduces the risk of tension around the throat and larynx and protects the neck.
Breathing is movement. Free breathing requires both stability and flexibility in the body. Exercises that stimulate circulation—from movement to stillness—can help the diaphragm work dynamically.
Find support from your pelvis. Relax your abdominal muscles and feel the air flowing through your body—like a circle, without stopping. A simple “twoooo” sound can help you connect with your pelvic floor.
Piano
Guitar
Flute
Shoulder Pain and the Role of the Shoulder Blade
Shoulder pain often occurs when the shoulder blade is not properly stabilized against the chest. This forces other muscles to compensate in order to hold up the arms and instruments, which can easily lead to overload. In some cases, this can cause inflammation of the bursa in the shoulder joint.
To reduce the strain, better stability throughout the upper body is needed. This starts with activating the deep support muscles in the pelvis so that the spine can be kept upright. This provides a more balanced posture and also improves the stability of the shoulder blades.
Aim for a playing position where the body can be upright and the shoulders can rest in a natural position—not pulled forward.
Wrist and Finger Pain
Pain in the wrist and hand often occurs when the wrist is held in a bent position for a long time, or when the grip—especially between the thumb and index finger—becomes too strained. This often causes the thumb to be overextended, which increases the strain.
Finger pain can also develop when the hand cannot find a stable basic position. A functional hand position means that the knuckles are visible and the fingers are slightly bent – not completely straight or tense. This allows the fingers to move with minimal strain.
Press, stress och rampfeber
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The Voice
The voice is a key tool, especially for individuals who use their voice as their primary instrument. Overuse injuries are common among singers and actors, even during their training. The most common voice disorder is voice fatigue, which often manifests itself as hoarseness or pain, a feeling of strain and/or a lump in the throat.
There is also a risk of structural damage such as vocal cord nodules (also known as vocal cord nodules), polyps or bleeding in the vocal cords. Good breathing and voice technique are essential for a sustainable voice. Preventive measures include body awareness, voice training, a relaxed throat, moderate subglottic pressure when using the voice, voice rest and tube phonation.
AMH's speech therapists can provide you with tailored treatment and a quick referral to a voice doctor for a vocal cord assessment.
Tinnitus
Tinnitus, sound sensitivity, and hearing loss are common symptoms of overload or damage to the inner ear. After exposure to loud noise, you may also experience sound distortion, a feeling of fullness in the ear, ear pain, or dizziness. In many cases, the symptoms are temporary, but persistent tinnitus can be a sign of a more pronounced effect and should always be investigated.
Your hearing needs to recover after loud work shifts. Quiet is crucial, especially for musicians. Stress and anxiety tend to amplify the tinnitus experience, as the brain finds it more difficult to filter out the signals. There are treatments that can alleviate and help – although no method can completely “turn off” tinnitus. Sound therapy is a common way to reduce discomfort by giving the brain other sounds to focus on.
At Artist and Musician Health, we offer hearing tests and counseling by audiologists, doctors, physiotherapists, and psychologists. We help you understand the causes, reduce the burden, and find tools that work for you.
Embochure
For wind musicians, lip health is central to both technique and expression. Early signs of overload can include stiffness, swelling, reduced range, or pain when playing. When this happens, the body's signals need to be taken seriously—it could be swelling in the lip tissue, and the lips simply need a break from the pressure of the mouthpiece.
The first step is to take a break from playing, change your playing time, and promote circulation. A simple method is to alternate between rinsing your lips in warm water and applying ice, which is recommended by experts in the field (e.g., at embouchures.com). Small lip vibrations can also stimulate blood flow.
The return to playing should be gradual and preferably in consultation with a teacher, who can observe the work of the facial muscles and help to adjust breathing, support, and playing technique. With the right strategies for recovery, playing, and rest time, lip function can be built up in a sustainable way.