Conclusions: (1) Indian professional musicians seem to be predisposed to neuromuscular and musculoskeletal complaints. The symptoms appear to be severe enough to impact personal and professional life in many of these musicians, (2) Studies involving a larger number of instrumental musicians and students at various stages of training with detailed neuromuscular evaluations are being planned to understand the full scope of such problems. Efforts will also be made to evaluate the type of performance related injuries that may be experienced by classical dancers. (3) There is a need to develop appropriate physical therapies and medical treatments for avoiding observed problems/injuries and reducing their adverse effects.
I know a few mrudangam and Carnatic violin artistes who suffer back or neck pains. I wonder if it is related to sitting with bad posture on the floor or just occupational overuse syndrome (OOS)? If it is the former, could the situation be improved if the set up for a concert move from the floor to chairs? Of course, the mrudangam will require some sort of stand and the violin holding technique will need to be modified, perhaps to the Western method.
Is it a personal thing? Standing and singing is the best way to sing. Before we laugh it off, consider--Harikatha, opera, choral singing unca vritti (walking).
Then again, senior vidvAns and vidUshis require chairs and they seem to have no problems.
I suspect that the cross-legged position, as long as the person sits up straight, is far healthier than being in a chair. Anyway, being in chairs doesn't save Western orchestral players from the various physical problems associated with their instruments.
By the time time seniors require chairs it is probably that their legs, hips, back etc just won't cope any longer with getting up and down and sitting cross-legged. It's amazing how many seniors do not need chairs!
A fair number of our younger musicians keep putting on weight, esp around the waist area. This must have an impact on their back. Add to that the long hours doing sadhakam and concerts, it's no wonder they develop these problems.
The posture for mridangam playing seems to be quite difficult to maintain, esp for 2-3 hours. I have heard piano players develop carpal tunnel syndrome because of the excessive demands on their fingers. Mridangam/tabla players must also have similar problems?