Volume 9 Issue 5 - February 2004

EDUCATION
FRONT
Focus on
Health
INTRODUCTION
This Focus on Health serves three
functions in the magazine this month.
It is, as advertised, a one-off "special"
raising some of the issues that
link the topics of music and health.
But in doing so it occ~pies the space
usually irlhabited by our regular
Education Front column, SO, in a
sense, it constitutes a special edition
Of that feature . And finally, it is an
invitation to you, our readers, by your
responses, to help us decide whether
this is a topic worth visiting in
our pages on a more regular basis.
One of the -interesting findings of
our recent reader survey was that over
40% of you regard yourselves as
musically active beyond listening.
Making music is, for many of you,
in one way or another, a lifelong
pursuit -- a pursuit that for better
and worse has health implications.
These three articles are all by people
who fit the profile of WholeNote
reader/musicians: Katarina Bulat is
a health practitioner long active in
the choral music scene. Christine
Ardagh' s conviction, that we need
a health facility based on recognition
of artists' unique circumstances,
arises from her own career as a
flutist. And while Jim Tennyson's
primary concern these days is the
heaith of pianos rather than their players,
if his piece does as much for
other chagrined concert-goers' blood
pressure as it did for mine, it will
have earned its place in this special.
We hope this little collection of
pieces will ,interest and amuse you,
musicians and nonmusidans alike in
our audience. Please send any ideas,
comll}ents and suggestions to
health@thewholenote.com
David. Perlman, editor
Just keep playing I just stop playing
BY KATARINA BULAT
"Just stop playing and you'll be
fine. " How many athletes liave
been prescribed this remedy for the
aches and pains of their sport?
We musicians are just like athletes
- almost. We put our bodies
through rigorous regimens many
hqurs a day, are thoroughly committed
to our art, want careers with
longevity, often work through pain
(not good), and are usually under-funded!
Yet when we experience pain
or discomfort, we are usually told
to 'just stop playing' . Musicians
are met with little awareness of the
source of the injury and a lack of
understanding and respect for the
impact of lost practice time.
This can be a prescription- for
frustration for professional musicians
in particular. The required
treatment may be expensive enough
on its own, but when compounded
by a possible loss of income,
stress mounts . That's when we
wish we had a practitioner with
personal knowledge of music and
musicians.
As a chiropractor, pianist and chorister,
I understand that the show
must go on. I work with musicians
to retrain their bodies in order
to heal their injuries and prevent
further strain.
Unlike athletes, musicians do
not focus on training their bodies
and using postures to limit strain
and improve performance and longevity.
That's where I can make
a differem;:e, as these two case
studies illustrate (don't even try to
guess, the names have been
changed!).
Anna, a saxophone player,
called me in desperation. Her
throat and the roof of her ·mouth
hurt so much whenever she played
her instrument that she was unable
to play for any length of time.
Her doctor hlid recommended a 3-
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month rest but the pain returned.
Then she was told she needed surgery
to reset her jaw and more time
off. When I worked with Anna,
it became clear that what was causing
her pain was her head and neck
positiqning while playing the saxophone.
Treatment included chiropractic
adjustments, muscle
work, assigned home stretches,
mirror work assignments and pointers
on how to change her posture
while playing. After only a few
treatments she was able to practice
long tones, and soon after she was
playing gigs. Anna was discharged
from my care, with the tools she
needed to continue her career free
of injury.
'
Sophie did not complain of any
pain, but felt her singing could
improve. She was having difficulty
with breath support, and
could not sing for more than one
or two bars without taking a breath.
Her treatment focused on posture
and on particular muscles and joints
involved in breath and sound production.
She practiced breathing
exercises on top of other 'homework'
and is now able to sustain
and support four to five bars of
singing. 'she has been able to relax
enough to achieve vibrato, and
has a richer and more supported
tone. I now see Sophie every once
in a while for a 'tune-up' when
she notices a change in these elements
- usually when life is a bit
hectic or stressful and her body
tenses.
We all get used to certain patterns
with our bodies, and certain ways
of thinking and feeling about music
and the way it's produced. We
don't notice how we change year
after year, altering our bodies from
the ideal posture we were taught
when younger. When it finally
catches up with us, we may need
professional help to keep on playing.
Choose a health practitioner
you feel comfortable with, and with
whom you can talk about yourself
and your music- as a whole!
Dr. Katarina Bulat, ARCT, BSc,
DC considers herself a "bi-professional!"
Eight years in the making
The Al and Malka Green Artists' Health Centre
At' Toronto Western Hospital
BY CHRISTINE LITTLE ARDAGH
I have been a professional freelance
musician for most of my life.
I have had my share of aches and
pains, and have worked through
two car accidents. ·I have always
found it frustrating to try to explain
(yet again) to a health care
practitioner that I don't have disability
insurance, I can't stop playing
to- allow my injuries to heal,
and I have no extended medical
benefits or health insurance to pay
for extra therapies.
I was delighted when, in 1994,
I was asked by Joysanne Sidimus
(Executive Director/Founder,
Dancer Transition Resource Centre)
to join a group of artists
brought together with the goal of
creating a health care facility specifically
for artists. I met with other
musicians, singers, dancers, actors,
writers, and visual artists, and we
shared our common stories of being
unable to pay for necessary
therapies not covered by OHIP
(such as physiotherapy, massage,
chiropractic and mental health counselling),
of having to work through
injuries or physical/emotional crises,
because there was no other
way to pay the bills (no unemploy
CONTINUES NEXT PAGE
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720 Bathurst St., Suite 502
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416-534-1140 x2
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Carlos Praniauskas, CST, has been treating
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