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Brass Playing Resources | Ergonomics & Trombone Health Issues
Overview of Playing-Related Health Risks
www.unlv.edu/music/injuries
www.musicianshealth.co.uk/symptomsmusicians.pdf
brassinjury.com/reading
https://musicforbrass.com/links.html
musicforbrass.com/links.html
brassinjury.com/
www.musicianshealthcollective.com/
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Important Research / Scientific Papers & Reviews
Below are peer-reviewed studies or review-articles, which provide empirical data on the prevalence, risk factors, or types of injuries in brass players.
Reference / Paper / Review
What it reports / Why it matters From embouchure problems to embouchure dystonia? A survey of self-reported embouchure disorders in 585 professional orchestra brass players Survey of 585 professional brass players: 59% reported embouchure disorders, 30% embouchure fatigue, 26% embouchure "cramping". ~16% had taken sick leave because of problems. Shows embouchure problems — fatigue, dystonia risk — are common. PubMed
Musculoskeletal and psychological assessments used in quantitatively based studies about musicians’ health in brass players: A systematic literature reviewA literature review summarizing studies on playing-related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMD) in brass players: common symptoms include muscle overstrain, tendon irritation, tension, fatigue; typical pain regions — lower back, shoulder/arm/hand, neck. ScienceDirect
Musculoskeletal Pain in Trombonists: Results from the UNT Trombone Health SurveySurvey of 316 trombone players: 76.6% experienced trombone-related pain in past year. Common pain regions: lips/jaw, left upper extremity, back. 35% reported pain prevented them from playing. Highlights instrument-specific risk (for trombone). PubMed
Orbicularis oris muscle injury in brass players Case-series (10 brass players) with injury to the orbicularis oris muscle (the lip muscle heavily used in embouchure). Demonstrates that embouchure injuries can be clinically significant — muscle defects, surgery required in some cases. PubMed
Medical problems of brass instrumentalists: Prevalence rates for trumpet, trombone, French horn, and low brass Large study (739 brass players) — about 60% reported one or more musculoskeletal problems. Trombonists had highest rate (~70%), French horn/low brass ~62%, trumpet ~53%. Shows musculoskeletal issues are widespread across brass instruments. Johns Hopkins Pure+1
Playing–related musculoskeletal disorders in woodwind, brass and percussion players: a review A review across wind, brass, percussion instruments: identifies “overuse syndrome” as the most frequently reported diagnosis among instrumentalists; discusses tendon/muscle overuse, nerve compression, repetitive strain issues. ResearchGate
Evidence‑informed physical therapy management of performance‑related musculoskeletal disorders in musiciansDiscusses how musculoskeletal disorders (PRMDs) are common among orchestral musicians (including brass players); evaluates interventions such as physical therapy, posture/biomechanics training, cross-training, and offers a framework for prevention/management. Frontiers
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What Researchers and Clinicians Find — Summary of Key Health Risks
Based on the above research and resources, the main categories of health/ injury risks for brass players are:
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Embouchure-related injury: overuse of lip & facial muscles, embouchure fatigue, “embouchure overuse syndrome,” occasionally more serious pathology (e.g. muscle damage such as in orbicularis oris) or risk of long-term embouchure breakdown. Wikipedia+3PubMed+3iml.esm.rochester.edu+3
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Musculoskeletal pain / Performance-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders (PRMDs): due to heavy instruments, awkward posture, repetitive strain. Common pain sites: neck, back, shoulders, arms/hands. Opal+3ScienceDirect+3Johns Hopkins Pure+3
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Oro-facial / soft tissue & oral health problems: lip swelling, lip/leather-mouth tissue damage, soft-tissue trauma, potential contact dermatitis or allergies (e.g. from mouthpiece materials), jaw/temporomandibular joint (TMJ) stress. MDPI+2colgateoralhealthnetwork.com+2
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Fatigue and overuse injury cycles: intensive playing or insufficient recovery often leads to chronic fatigue or injury that may persist or worsen if the musician keeps playing without rest. ScienceDirect+2Musicians Health Collective+2
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Dystonia or focal movement disorders: in some cases, especially after prolonged embouchure problems or changes in embouchure/breathing/technique, musicians may develop movement disorders (like embouchure dystonia) that severely impair ability to play. PubMed+2