Thursday, February 25, 2010

Allergies and the Musician

Allergies and musicians do NOT mix! Allergies are bad enough, but combine that with trying to make music and you have a recipe for disaster. If it is seasonal allergies, the symptoms, runny nose, coughing, sneezing, itchy eyes, scratchy throat etc., over the counter meds may relieve the symptoms, but the side effects of dry mouth and drowsiness can make it just as challenging to play. There are a number of alternative options to help with allergies. The first line of defense is the homeopathic remedy histaminum hydrochloride. This little beauty can relieve your symptoms for seasonal or pet allergies, without side effects. I carry a tube of 30c ( the strongest available over the counter!) with me always, because if I have a flare-up of allergies, including food allergies, this relieves the symptoms within 5 minutes. It also takes care of swollen lips caused by allergies, which if you play a wind instrument, can be a chop killer! There are also a number of products by Natra-bio, which are formulated for specific allergies, i.e. dust, pets, weeds, etc. These are great too if you know for sure what is causing the allergy. These are homeopathic as well, and work very quickly with no side effects. But wouldn't it be great to get RID of your allergies? This can also be done, but I will talk more about that in the next blog! Happy playing!

Thursday, February 18, 2010

Playing Without Pain

Ever had one of those weekends where you played and played your instrument (yay, gigs we're making money!) and by Monday your back ( and maybe the rest of your body!) felt as if it were in a vise grip? And if you were outside and it was cold or windy, it can be even worse! What can we do to make sure we are not making a beeline to the chiropractor's office on Monday? Stretching! This is one of the most important things that a musician can do to prevent injury. We play our instruments for sometimes hours at a time, repeating the same or similar motions, using small muscle groups, and this can lead to injury to those muscle groups. Just like an athlete needs to warm-up and cool down their bodies before and after an event or a practice, musicians should be stretching and releasing tension in their muscles before and after they practice and play. Even on breaks! The most important stretch is the one that pulls the muscles in the opposite direction of the way they are used as you play. So, if you play with your arms in front and up, you should stretch the arms back and down. Just this simple exercise, if done on breaks and before and after you play, can help eliminate a good part of that Monday pain and stiffness! Happy gigging!