Surveys of professional symphony orchestra musicians have found that over half are affected at any given time. Reports from Europe and Australia confirm the findings in North American studies, and the case histories of some famous soloists are well known. While most injured musicians recover within a few weeks, some are left with chronic pain and impairment. The musculoskeletal system consists of muscles, tendons, bones, ligaments, and their blood vessels and nerves. Muscle overuse results in stiff, sore muscles.
Tendons connect muscles to bones.
They have a poor blood supply, so they take longer than muscles to strengthen and to recover from injury. Ligaments connect bones to each other at a joint. We don't know if this hyperflexibility is a potential problem or not. The remaining sections of this text will address each of these questions. Our understanding of the causes of musicians' arm and hand problems is incomplete - there's a lot we do not know.