Effects of Self-administered Exercises Based on Tuina Techniques on Musculoskeletal Disorders of Professional Orchestra Musicians

Objective: To study the effects of self-administered exercises based on tuina techniques on the pain intensity caused by playing related musculoskeletal disorders (PRMD) of professional orchestra musicians, using numeric visual scale (NVS).

Method: The investigators performed a prospective, controlled, single-blinded, randomized study with musicians suffering from PRMD. n= 69 musicians were randomly distributed into the experimental and into the control group. After an individual diagnostic assessment, specific tuina self-administered exercises were developed and taught to the participants. Musicians were instructed (educated) to repeat the exercises every day during 3 weeks. Pain intensity was measured by NVS before the intervention and after the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 10th, 15th and 20th days of self-exercising. The procedure was the same for the control group, however the Tuina exercises were executed in non-acupuncture points