The British Medical Journal has published two articles recently on this topic.
"Head and neck injury risks in heavy metal : head bangers stuck between rock and a hard bass" by Declan Patton & Andrew MacIntosh in Vol 337, Dec 20-27 2008, p. 1455-7, has had a fair bit of airing in the media recently. More than slightly tongue-in-cheek, the authors conclude that to minimise the risk of head and neck injury, "head bangers should decrease their range of head and neck motion, head bang to slower tempo songs by replacing heavy metal with adult oriented rock, only head bang to every second beat, or use personal protective equipment."
A little more seriously, "A Symphony of Maladies" in the same issue, p.1458-60, discusses at length the health stresses professional classical musicians face, from the obvious overuse injuries and the fallout from gruelling practice and travelling regimes, to focal dystonias, dermal sensitisation, and respiratory, oropharyngeal, and cardiovascular anomalies. Fiddlers' neck, Guitarists' nipple and Cello knee are some of the more specific complaints recorded in this literature review.
You can access these articles via the NCAHS online journals list, or contact your library for a copy.
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