Incidence of overuse syndromes of the upper limb in young pianists and its correlation with hand size, hypermobility and playing habits.

The incidence of overuse syndromes of the elbow, wrist and hand was evaluated in a series of 66 pianists: 28 presented such a pathology. No significant correlation with starting age, or duration and intensity of practice was revealed. Smaller hands lead to more frequent overuse syndromes, in both males and females. Conditioning, sports activity, playing a second or third instrument, warming-up before playing and stretching afterwards did not influence the incidence of overuse syndromes. Pianists were not more hypermobile than a sex- and age-matched control group, nor was there any significant difference in hypermobility between pianists with and without overuse problems. There was no significant difference in incidence between the left and right side.