RE: Music Playing and Health

[Ghost Sonata]

Didn't see a thread on this all-important topic, hope I didn't miss it.  Anyway, I thought if we can save one GMGer, it's well worth it.  Particularly after reading about BAGPIPE LUNG:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/08/23/he-withered-away-for-7-years-doctors-didnt-realize-his-passion-was-killing-him/

There is also SAXOPHONE LUNG:

http://www.medicaldaily.com/clarinet-player-who-didnt-clean-instrument-30-years-develops-saxophone-lung-allergic-reaction-fungi

Question: which instrument in the symphony orchestra is reputed to be the most dangerous to your health?  Answer:  supposedly the clarinet nope, my knowledgeable informant says it's the oboe - causes teeth and jaw malformation, headaches, dizzy spells, a desire to be Benny Goodman... Clarinet, you're off the hook.

[ComposerOfAvantGarde]

I once had a relative try to explain to me that being a COMPOSER would have very nasty effects on my health and cited Mozart because he died aged 35.

I must say, there are ways to be healthy regardless of what one is doing in music.

[DaveF]

And I thought this was going to be a thread about the spiritual, mental and physical benefits of playing an instrument (I'm sure there must be some).  I'm also reminded of Berlioz walking home after being told by a trombonist that a passage in Les francs-juges was particularly effectively written: head in the clouds, he missed his footing and twisted his ankle.  "I get a pain in the foot whenever I hear that passage.  Others, perhaps, get a pain in the head."

[jochanaan]

Musical instruments are only unhealthy if they're played in an unhealthy manner, or if they're not properly cared for. I have played oboe in groups for years without ill effects.

[Ghost Sonata]

Good news on the healthy hearing front in U.S. this morning :  http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/15/health/hearing-loss-united-states.html?hpw&rref=health&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=well-region&region=bottom-well&WT.nav=bottom-well&_r=0

[aukhawk]

I must say, there are ways to be healthy regardless of what one is doing in music.

But if you are a performer your whole metabolism gets attuned to peaking in the evenings - which doesn't seem very healthy to me.