It is well know that the hour kept by musicians can be grueling. Limited sleep, long hours, lack of exercise and poor eating habits can lead to disaster. Drumming is a physically demanding activity requiring adequate intake of calories (food) and fluid. Good nutrition is an important component of staying healthy and is manifest in … Read more
Last month I kicked off a series of articles on common hand and wrist injuries in drummers. The nerves crossing the wrist and into the hand are very vulnerable to injury either from direct trauma or due to repetitive injury. The most common nerve injury occurring in the wrist is carpal tunnel syndrome or median … Read more
Acute and chronic forearm pain is a very common condition in musicians and particularly drummers requiring them to seek medical care. The repetitive wrist and elbow motion required to play drums predispose us to developing forearm muscle tendon overuse injuries. Tennis elbow or lateral epicondylitis, the most common of these entities encompasses a variety of … Read more
Drummers are susceptible to developing pain behind their ankles due to the repetitive activity occurring while playing the kick drum or drums. The most common injury that can develop from playing either single or double bass drum is Achilles tendonitis. The Achilles tendon is the large tendon at the back of the ankle that connects … Read more
Have you ever experienced that severe calf pain in the middle of the night, that awakens you from sleep and wonder what you did to deserve this. Everyone will experience muscle cramps sometime in their life. Cramps can occur while we exercise, sleep or play our drums. The slightest movement that shortens a muscle can … Read more
Arm pain is a common complaint among drummers. Pain in the upper arm can originate from a number of locations in the upper extremity including the neck, shoulder and elbow. However, one of the more common sources of arm pain in drummers is from the biceps tendon or biceps tendonitis. A tendon is a connective … Read more
Last months article began my series on foot pain and the variety of problems that can arise from using our feet repetitively. This months article will discuss bunions. Many of us already have a bunion on our feet or have family members with them but never realized what they are and why they develop. You … Read more
Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a common painful disorder involving the wrist and hand. The carpal tunnel is formed on three sides by the wrist carpal bones and covered by the flexor retinaculum a thick band of tissue. Within the carpal tunnel lies the median nerve surrounded by the flexor tendons of the hand. Carpal … Read more
Drummers or any person that sits for extended periods of time are at risk of developing blood clots in the legs or a deep vein thrombosis (DVT). A DVT usually develops in a deep vein in the leg but it can occur in other parts of the body, such as the arm after an injury. … Read more
As drummers, we rely on our feet to be able to repetitively push a pedal hundreds of thousands of times per year. Regardless of if we play heel up or heel down,a tremendous amount of force is applied across our feet and toes. Those of us who have developed a painful swelling and or deformity … Read more
