Rub It Away
How Massage Can Help Musicians Feel and Play Better
by Cherie Yurco
massage for musicians
Guitarist, singer, and massage therapist Lucy Allen of Greenville, South Carolina, became interested in massage while trying to heal carpal tunnel syndrome in both arms. The problem generated numbness from her hands to her elbows and made it difficult to play guitar.
Allen never considered surgery. She explains, "I knew from talking to other people, that surgery often doesn't cure carpal tunnel because the problem is actually in the shoulders and neck." Seeking an alternative solution, she turned to massage.
Massage therapy not only cured her problem, but her massage therapist also showed her stretches she could do to prevent its recurrence. She was truly amazed by the results. "If you think about the cost of surgery, versus the cost of massage, it's a no brainer!" she says. "For most problems, massage treatments would run around $200."
A couple years later, Allen was laid off from her job and ready for a change. Recalling how massage therapy had helped her, she decided to study massage at Greenville Technical College.
Since graduating with honors, she has been treating musicians, athletes, and others. One of her passions is attending music festivals, where she gives massages to musicians and teaches them how to avoid injury, or even cure themselves. She also spreads the word about proper posture and techniques of active isolated stretching, following the guidelines of massage therapist Aaron Mattes and his website StretchingUSA.com.
"Musicians tend to have tendinitis in their forearms; neck and shoulder problems; and lower back pain," says Allen, who usually focuses on those areas when she's working with musicians. Issues can also be instrument-specific. "For example, for fiddlers, it's often the left shoulder and arm. A lot of it has to do with posture, as well."
The most rewarding part of her career is helping others. One time she was at a festival and competition where a fiddle player was unable to play anything because of numbness in his hand and pain in his elbow. "I stretched him out in the parking lot for 15 or 20 minutes," says Allen. "He played in a competition a few hours later and won a ribbon. Now he knows how to stretch himself."
"I try to do a lot of educational stuff because, if people can do things to prevent getting injured�keep the body relaxed, and active isolated stretching before and after a performance�I am happy," she says. Allen would also like to see more musicians look to massage to relieve their all too common overuse injuries.
"Unfortunately," she explains, "musicians don't often seek massage therapy. If they have extra money, they are more likely spend it on something music-related. They only look for a solution like massage if the pain prevents them from playing."
Aside from relieving specific pain and discomfort, massage can promote healing and lower your heart rate and blood pressure. "It actually helps to increase circulation and gets a lot of the natural waste products out of the system," says Allen.
Through her outreach at music festivals and other events, she hopes to change the mind-set of musicians when it comes to massage. "Musicians should try not to think of massage as a luxury, but as something that will help overall health and performance," she explains.
If you would like to give it a try, she says that one of the best ways to find the right massage therapist is through word of mouth. Another option is to go to the website of the American Massage Therapy Association
and click on the "Find a Massage Therapist" link. Also, hospitals and chiropractors often have massage therapists who work with them.
Call and ask some questions before making an appointment, Allen advises. Find out where the therapist was trained, and what experience he has treating musicians. If you have a particular problem you would like to treat, ask about his experience in treating that condition.
