Craniocervical Characteristics of Wind Musicians: An Observational Study in Spanish Conservatory Students

Playing wind instruments may promote neck, arm, or shoulder pain, as well as temporomandibular pain. The cervical and orofacial regions are associated, due to their proximity and the influence they both have on body posture. In wind musicians, the mouth is responsible for producing the sound. Any alteration in the characteristics of the orofacial system can affect the embouchure when playing a wind instrument.

To observe demographic and physical characteristics in the cervicomandibular region in a sample of university wind students.

An observational descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out with wind students in the two higher conservatories of the region of Galicia, Spain. We studied the posture of the head and neck, the range of cervical movement and mouth opening, the presence of trigger points in the upper trapezius and masseter, as well as their algometry and electromyographic value.

30 woodwind and 19 brass students were evaluated, 51% of whom were female. A tendency towards a forward position of the head and protraction of the shoulders was observed, maintaining horizontality in the frontal plane in both the head and shoulders. Cervical movements were diminished, while the mouth opening was greater than standard. In this sample, a relatively high prevalence of trigger points in the upper trapezius was observed, while the masseters showed greater sensitivity to pain and greater activation during trapezius contraction.

Musicians in this study presented an anteriorized position of the head and shoulders in the sagittal plane, with a decrease in cervical range of motion particularly in the transverse plane.