Musician Health Resources

Student health and wellness is an important topic on the hearts and minds of all faculty and staff here at Oklahoma City University. Students here are regularly presented with concepts and ideas to aid in establishing continued physical and mental well being as it relates to those music activities at this university. These concepts and ideas may include:

attention to improved practice and performance techniques,
appropriate safety procedures for moving and handling all types of music equipment, and
information regarding hearing, vocal, and musculoskeletal health and injury prevention.

This informational page highlights health and wellness related readings already available at or through OCU's resources, and provides students with health professionals’ presentation slides, as well as a selection of websites that are best able to explain topics concerning musician's health and wellness.

Disabilities

Any student needing special accommodations due to a disability should contact the Campus Health and Disability Services Center located in the PanHellenic Quadrangle (South of the baseball field) or call 405-208-5090 or email their confidential email at [email protected]. Students with disabilities who wish to access services may initiate their request by contacting the Campus Health and Disability Services Office. During this intake process, students will have an opportunity to identify specific academic accommodations, and they will be asked to complete a formal request form, a release of information form, and provide current documentation about their disability.

Counseling

Any student experiencing mental or emotional issues who desires free, confidential, clinical counseling is encouraged to contact the University Counseling Center at Oklahoma City University at 405-208-7902 to schedule an appointment during normal working hours Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Students may also email the counseling coordinator at [email protected] to arrange for assistance. For after hours mental health emergencies, please call the Oklahoma City University Campus Police at 405-208-5001 or the Oklahoma County Crisis Intervention Center (OCCIC) at 405-522-8100 or 800-522-9054 Here are some relevant and useful quick links to information that might be really useful to you:

Kinesiology

Any student experiencing musculoskeletal difficulties relating to performance injuries would work closely with their primary teacher to eliminate any difficulties stemming from inaccurate practice and performance habits. Students experiencing musculoskeletal or repetitive use injury issues found difficult to address in the private instructor/student atmosphere that might need further assistance have full access to the one-on-one private consultations and injury specific therapy sessions with members of the Kinesiology Department at Oklahoma City University by visiting Jason Miller in Room 117 of Loeffler or by calling (405) 208-5648 or emailing him at [email protected].

Additional Resources

The Vocal Dose - Dr. Kelly Holst

Connecting you with science-informed resources for a healthier voice.

Good websites about musculoskeletal health issues

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Eight Causative Factors is an excerpt from Dr. Jameson's book Repetitive Strain Injuries: The Complete Guide to Alternative Treatments and Prevention. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome complaints are usually involving pain in the hand and tingling and numbness of the first three to four fingers.

Cubital Tunnel Syndrome in Guitarists explains a condition that causes tingling, numbness and sometimes weakness of the fourth and fifth fingers of the hand.

Trigger Finger: Explanation and Prevention explains about a painful condition that causes an inability to straighten our a finger or causes a locking of a finger with an inability for movement.

Repetitive Injuries Continue to Plague Musicians offers strategies to prevent painful repetitive injuries and offers an understanding of why they develop in the first place.

Repetitive Strain Injury Prevention Guidelines offers 14 tips to prevent RSIs.

Back Pain in the Classical Guitarist

Fatigue in Pick Hand and/or Arm While Playing the Guitar

New!!! Orchestral stresses analyzed by Dr. Joel Margolies, D.C., a french horn player

Preventing hand injuries while guitar playing An informative article from Acoustic Guitar Magazine On Line.

Stress In Piano Playing by Richard Beuchamp offers excellent advice in piano technique and style to prevent injury.

AthletesandtheArts.com. Integrating the science of sports medicine and music.

“Musculoskeletal Disorders Affecting Musicians and Considerations for their Prevention.” A slide presentation by physiotherapist Patrice Berque; includes anatomical drawings and photos.

Selected Articles Specific to Musician's Health Topics

Hansen, PA, and K Reed. "Common musculoskeletal problems in the performing artist." Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Clinics Of North America 17, no. 4 (November 2006): 789-801. CINAHL Plus with Full Text, EBSCOhost (accessed April 9, 2013). [this article is available through inter-library loan only}

"Looking at Musicians' Health through the Ages." Ralph Manchester, M.D., discusses the prevalence and incidence of playing-related injuries.

"Things Are Seldom What They Seem." Alice Brandfonbrener, M.D., advises musicians how to get help when injury symptoms arise (April, 2006).

“What Studying Musicians Tells Us about Motor Control of the Hand,” by Alan Watson, Ph.D. (2006).

"Musician, Heal Thyself." Stories about injured musicians and their journeys back to health; from Peabody Magazine.

Fit to Sing. A factsheet from the British Assoc. of Performing Arts Medicine.

Advice for Care of the Voice, from the Texas Voice Center. Vocal hygiene tips. Dos and Don'ts from the Canadian Voice Care Foundation.

Self-Help for Vocal Health. From The National Center for Voice and Speech. Vocal health guidelines from the Lions Voice Clinic of the Univ. of Minnesota.

Tips for Performers. From the Duke Voice Care Center.

Effects of Medications on Voice and Speech, from the National Center for Voice and Speech. A list of more than 200 medications and their effects.

Vocal health resources from the National Center for Voice and Speech.

Vocal Process. "Training and resources for healthy voice use."

American Academy of Otolaryngology. Global directory to locate a voice doctor.

Vocal Polyps and Nodules Treatment & Management Medscape Reference.

The Truth About Vocal Nodes Courtesy of the British Voice Association.

Articles and tips for singers by Anthony Jahn, M.D. Tips from The Voice Foundation (click on the “Voice Problems” tab).

Humidifiers and air purifiers: Amazon.com; Compact Appliance. Entertainer's Secret. Throat relief spray.

Adele's Vocal Challenge. John Mayer's Vocal Challenge. Case examples of vocal cord hemorrhage and granuloma. Also prevention tips.

Vocal Cord Nodules and Polyps American Speech Language and Hearing Association.

Photo gallery of throat disorders. From the Bastian Voice Institute.

Video gallery of voice and throat disorders. From the Bastian Voice Institute.

Voice Academy. Vocal health & advice for school teachers.

Will playing in orchestra damage our hearing? from the Music and Brain Blog at University of Toronto

Conductor Awareness of, Knowledge of, and Attitude Toward Sound Intensity Levels Generated During Ensemble-based Instructional Activities in College-level Schools of Music by Arron J. Albin.

How Hearing Works, by Tom Harris. From HowStuffWorks.com.

Teach Trumpet Students Early and they will Listen by Kris Chesky "Students involved with music need to know about the risk for hearing loss, and someone needs to inform them"

Sound Advice. Extensive resources for musicians, colleges, schools. Hearnet.com. Hearing education and awareness. Dangerous Decibels. “A public health partnership for prevention of noise-induced hearing loss.”

The American Academy of Audiologists. Locate audiologists worldwide.

“Sound Level Measurements in Music Practice Rooms,” by Phillips and Mace,Music Performance Research (2008).

"Prevalence of noise-induced hearing loss in student musicians," by Phillips, Henrich, & Mace (International Journal of Audiology 49, 2010). [click on PDF Fulltext to access article]

Portable music and its risk to hearing health, by Brian Fligor Hearing Review 14 March 2008. How concerned should we be about MP3 and other personal music players? What should we define as “too much or too loud?”

Study Provides First Guidelines for Safe Levels of iPod Music Listening Hearing Review 20 November 2006. A new analysis of iPods and other portable, digital music players by researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder and Children’s Hospital in Boston has produced the first-ever detailed guidelines for safe listening levels using earphones

Hear the Music: Hearing Loss Prevention for Musicians, by Marshall Chasin, Ph.D. (Westone, 2001). A practical 93-page booklet.

College Music Faculty Views About Hearing Protection Use and Hearing Conservation Training By Adrienne Rubinstein Hearing Review 7 February 2013.

Risk of Damage to Hearing from Personal Listening Devices in Young Adults by Jian-Hua Peng et al.

ListentoYourBuds.org. "How to use personal audio technology safely."

A Sound Ear II. Free ebooklet addressing “noise at work regulations and their impact on orchestras.” (Assoc. of British Orchestras, 2008) "No fortissimo? Symphony told to keep it down," by Sarah Lyall, (The New York Times, April 20, 2008).

Music-Related Hearing Loss. Hearing conservation at UNC-Greensboro. “Center Helps Prevent Hearing Loss Through Awareness,” by Ellen Rossetti, UNT Research 17 (2008).

“Are Your Medications Affecting Your Hearing?” A primer on ototoxicity.

Noise and Hearing Loss Prevention. Guidelines from NIOSH; broadly applicable. Listen While You Work: Hearing Conservation for the Arts. Free ebook, (2001). Audio Demonstrations. Simulations of hearing loss.

Tinnitus and the brain." Discover magazine, October, 2010.

Harmony or discord: Disordered eating and personality traits of college music majors by Laura D. DiPasquale [this is a dissertation available through ProQuest Dissertations and Abstracts]

Holistic Health and the Prevention of Performance-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders in Orchestral String Musicians by F. Lynn Kuo [this is a dissertation available through ProQuest Dissertations and Abstracts]

If you wish to find a doctor in your area who specializes in performing arts injuries, consult The Performing Arts Medicine Association.

Musician's Health Resources