The full story
This is the full account of my injury survival story:
I am one of the lucky few that has made a full recovery from a near career ending shoulder injury. It took 2 years of intense, daily physiotherapy, economic hardship, depression, loss of work and a whole lot of pain, but I made it. I also learned a lot in the process and I am now determined to help others avoid the problems that I’ve had. Here is my story:
In the fall of 2005 I was living in Sweden and working full time in the Malmö Opera Orchestra, when I started experiencing a slight, but relentless pain on the front of my left shoulder when playing. (more…)
Speaking
“Anatomy and Injury Prevention for Musicians”
Intended for professional orchestras and university level music schools and academies, “Anatomy and Injury Prevention for Musicians” is the presentation I gave at Banff Centre in Canada in 2008 in an attempt to share the knowledge I gained in dealing with my own injury. Throughout my career I have had various teachers and colleagues tell me that I should be careful with my posture – but no one told why it was important or just how spectacularly bad things could go. Had someone sat me down with an anatomy book and explained to me how the body works and why good posture and strength is important, I would probably have been much more vigilant about these things. This is exactly the kind of information I tried to pass on with this presentation. Performance related injuries for musicians are very common, but it doesn’t have to be that way. I believe that with a little basic knowledge of anatomy, posture (more…)