02/11/2025
🎻 Lauren plays beautifully, known worldwide for her Bollywood music, but many musicians have learnt to hide pain behind the performance.
Here’s what I hear often from musicians:
🔹 “Pain is part of the job.”
🔹 “I can’t afford to rest, I’ll lose consistency or I’ll lose money or work”
But research paints a different picture.
What the evidence shows:
• 80–90% of professional musicians experience musculoskeletal pain during their careers
• Most common areas: neck, shoulders, and upper back
• Often caused by:
Long hours in asymmetric postures
Repetitive fine-motor movements under tension
What helps:
• Gentle manual release improves tissue glide
• Mobility and stability retraining restore balance across key muscle groups
• The goal isn’t just pain relief — it’s keeping the body strong enough to support the art
❤️🩹 Because no one should have to choose between doing what they love and feeling well.
🎶 Here’s to the musicians who keep showing up — let’s make talking about pain normal, not taboo.
References:
• Kok, L.M. et al. (2022). Musculoskeletal pain symptoms in professional musicians: prevalence and work-related risk factors. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders.
• Smith, J. et al. (2024). Performance-related pain and disability among music students and professional musicians. Pain Medicine, 25(9), 568–579.
• Zaza, C. & Farewell, V.T. (2023). Playing-related musculoskeletal disorders in professional musicians: updated review and risk insights. Br J Sports Med.
