“Our first job as a team physician when we hear about an injury is to get the information. Talk to the player, see what happened, get them in right away, and evaluate them. I work with my colleague Bob Hotchkiss, our hand and wrist expert and get all the imaging studies. Dr. Hotchkiss did the surgery and did a wonderful job as far as restoring anatomy. But the biggest issue in the recovery process is getting the motion back. Fingers and hands tend to get stiff," said Dr. Rodeo.

“If you put him in a cast for three months, the bone would heal, but then he couldn't move his fingers. But if you move faster than the bone is healed, then that alignment issue that you are trying to protect becomes compromised. So that is the balance,” said Dr. Hotchkiss. 

"When we first started working together, Xavier's entire hand was really tight, so we've been working a lot on opening the span, stretching out and making a first. Once he's warmed up and did some soft tissues massage, it's easier for him to get some motion on his own and his strength is coming back, said Aviva. 

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Wolff had pioneered an innovative approach to treating sore hands and arms. In her lab, she attaches motion sensors to each musician and analyzes the biomechanics of their playing with multiple cameras, an approach akin to what athletic trainers and conditioning coaches do with professional athletes to tweak a golf swing, a basketball jump shot or pitching form. With the musicians, most of their pain is chronic and the high-tech motion analysis allows Wolff to detect abnormal hand or body placements that are exacerbating their injuries.

While similar in some ways, musicians’ and athletes’ bodies do differ in one key aspect of their performance. “Unlike athletes, musicians have to play without tension,” noted Wolff. “With professional musicians who are using their body optimally, you can see how light they look. It seems effortless, and that’s what you want to see.”

Wolff is currently developing an injury prevention and treatment curriculum for conservatories and orchestras that includes anatomy lessons, stretches and exercises designed for each instrument. She’s also educating her medical colleagues with research from the HSS Motion Analysis Lab that shows specific ways to get injured musicians back to playing in the short-term and in better shape for the long-term. “We are not educated enough in the demands of musicians,” said Wolff. “The musculoskeletal system and our bodies are healing machines. There are solutions out there.”

Wolff created a customized “return to play” plan for Duncan, using the data she captured through her motion analysis studies. One surprise: Though Duncan felt pain and numbness in her hand, Wolff pinpointed exercises for an area no one else had detected as a possible source of the pain — the upper back muscles. “It was really illuminating for her to say, ‘You’re feeling the symptoms here in your hands and your wrist but actually if you strengthen these muscles in the back, that will help your symptoms,” cited Duncan. 

Now Duncan feels secure about her future and her ability to continue to do what she loves best, in the place she loves best. “Slowly but surely as New York is coming back, I’m coming back,” she concluded. “It’s nice to be able to play music again.”

This segment was live streamed via NBC News Now on July 5, 2022. The article and segment can be accessed at NBCNews.com. 

Additional coverage: Phillyvoice.com

Wolff wrote while its unlikely for musicians to cut down on the number of practices and performances which involve highly repetitive and coordinated movements, she underscored the importance of physically warming up prior to playing (i.e. stretches to the forearm muscles). “Warming up before playing increases the blood flow to the muscles and allows musicians to play longer with less pain and fatigue,” she cited. Wolff suggested taking 10-15 minute breaks every hour, doing a few gentle stretches or simply walking around to relieve any muscle tension and give the muscles a chance to recover.

Wolff concluded it’s while common for musicians to give in to poor posture as they are playing for long periods of time in unusual positions, it is advised to practice good body mechanics to help place less stress on the joints and muscles.

Read the article at Dailyvoice.com/new-jersey/Bergenfield.