Rockers play hard. Think of Pete Townsend and his windmill power chords, of Jerry Lee Lewis frenetically pounding the keys. We all love the sound and feel of that hard driving energy. But the physical effects on players can be significant. Repetitive stress injuries to shoulders, arms, and hands can stop a player in his or her tracks with debilitating pain and/or numbness. Read the rest of this entry »
Integrative Care for Musicians: Upper Extremity Injuries
November 14, 2011
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Chiropractic Studies, Ergonomics, Integral Healing, Musicians Chiropractic | 
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Posted by rickyfishman
Re-Visioning Health and Healing, Part One: A Shifting Landscape
September 30, 2011As most of us know, we Americans are a mess—overworked, overweight, and stressed out. In addition to the increased demands of our technologically fueled lives and their damaging effects on our wellbeing, we have a health care system in free fall. In one generation we have seen a shift from low cost, comprehensive coverage to $3000 deductibles, low quality HMOs and escalating numbers of people without any insurance at all. Altogether, these developments have damaged health care outcomes and changed the trust relationships between patients, doctors, employers, and health insurance carriers. Read the rest of this entry »
5 Comments | Chiropractic Studies, Cultural Studies, History of Medicine, Integral Healing, Philosophy of Health and Healing | Permalink
Posted by rickyfishman
Rock and Roll Ergonomics, Part Three: The Studio
July 10, 2011It’s one AM. You’ve been in “Logic”, laying down beats, working the midi since 10, creating your latest masterpiece. Lost in the music, the creeping pain in your neck reminds you that it’s time to stand up and move around. Read the rest of this entry »
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Travel, Fear, and Misperception: Burma as Destination and Metaphor
April 13, 2011I first traveled to Burma in 1996, Co-Leading an educational tour with a group of eighteen students from New College of California. Burma had just opened to the West after thirty years and Aung San Suu Kyi, the democratically elected President, who had been under house arrest by the Military Regime since her election in 1988, had just been released. Read the rest of this entry »
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Norm and Normal: The Social Construction of Health
February 16, 2011You go for your yearly medical check up. The doctor listens to your heart and feels your pulse. Your blood is drawn and your blood pressure is taken. Looking at the sphygmomanometer (blood pressure cuff), she reports a number: 120/80. “Perfect”, she says and when your lab results come in showing all of your serum levels falling within the normal range, you are declared healthy and told to return in a year for another evaluation. Read the rest of this entry »
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The Sound of Healing
January 7, 2011I relaxed at Philz, my local cafe, sinking into a soft leather couch, taking in a fine selection of indie rock, and enjoying some very strong coffee. As I sipped on a tall Tesora, I daydreamed about the trip I’d soon be taking to Peru. I was excited, but at the same time troubled by a pain I was feeling. I knew its source. A deep wound inflicted by someone whom I thought was a friend. He had stolen something from me, something real and material, but also something more…vital. It felt as if this “friend” had made off with a piece of my heart. But knowing this did nothing to relieve the ache. I wrote furiously in my journal about the injury of betrayal and about my need for some kind of healing and that maybe I’d find it in Peru. I didn’t really understand why I thought this might be so. Read the rest of this entry »
6 Comments | Chiropractic Studies, Cultural Studies, History of Medicine, Integral Healing, Memoir, Mindfulness, Musicians Chiropractic, Philosophy of Health and Healing | Permalink
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Peru and the Power of Mindful Travel
November 14, 2010Flying out of San Francisco, I imagined that all of my worries would simply disappear when I took off for the “mystical” land of Peru. I had recently been through a few travails, including an emotional business divorce and looked forward to some relief. But instead, I became aware that they traveled with me, like close friends who would not say goodbye. With this distressing realization, coupled with the frustration of having my plane ticket canceled for the flight out of Lima, I finally arrived in Cusco, irritated and exhausted. Read the rest of this entry »
5 Comments | Cultural Studies, Mindfulness, Philosophy of Health and Healing, Travel | Permalink
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Rock and Roll Ergonomics, Part Two: Low Back Protection
August 2, 2010It’s the second set of the night. The Les Paul strung over your shoulders pours out hard and soulful sounds through the Mesa Boogie Mark IV (78 pound, 85 tube watt) combo amp. As you reach for that perfect note, bent over in trance, you feel a twinge in your lower back, then a sharp stab deep in your spine, and the life is suddenly sucked out of that singing lead. Coming down from the clouds, mind and body are re-connected, your body telling your mind to stop doing what it is doing. And you think about loading the amp into the car after the gig. Read the rest of this entry »
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Rock and Roll Ergonomics, Part One: Bass, Guitar, and the Weight Problem
July 2, 2010I remember my first bass rig. 1975. A Sunburst Precision copy and a small no-name transistor combo amp. Light weight, compact. I just threw it all into my Delta 88 Royale and drove. Easy. No muss, no fuss. But as the years went by, and the bands got better, and I started to make a little money, my speaker cabinets got bigger and the amplifiers heavier, until I was finally hauling around an Aguilar DB750 head and a couple of “4 by 10” Eden Cabinets.* (Did I forget to mention the compressor and rack?) The sound was awesome! I could turn the master and gain knobs to 2 or 3 and push my band with clean tone and endless volume. Yes, I was the “King of Bottom”. But my lower back started talking to me, and it was not with kindness. Rolling the cabinets to my car with a hand truck, I felt the pain as I anticipated the angled, awkward lift into the back seat. And then there was the head—750 watts and 43 pounds of compact tube power. I felt like one of those Olympic athletes doing the hammer throw just to get that thing into the car. As part of a middle age rock band, something had to give. It was a stark, clear choice–my back or my equipment.
1 Comment | Chiropractic Studies, Cultural Studies, Musicians Chiropractic, Philosophy of Health and Healing | Permalink
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The Healing Power of Art
June 16, 2010Thirty Five Thousand years ago, the ice age caves of Southern France were covered in beautiful images of wild animals and abstract symbols. Since that time, the ancestors of these painters have produced the Mona Lisa, Sufi poetry, and Rock and Roll. The story of Homo Sapien has been, in large measure, a story of art—of the language needed to express it and the technology necessary to make it move. Read the rest of this entry »
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