From the dawn of instrumental music to the present day, music performance has always entailed risk of injury. Violinists face a unique set of physical challenges and dangers when performing, and they are more prone than other musicians to injury due to the unbalanced workload required on the arms and complex playing techniques. Multiple studies examining performance-related injuries in violinists have found that factors such as extended practice time and instrument-specific playing techniques increase the incidence of injury. To meet these challenges, musicians and researchers have designed and employed both practicing and engineering mitigations such as dynamic assistive support to help musicians prevent and recover from injuries. However, further research is needed to help musicians and practitioners in other fields susceptible to repetitive stress and poor ergonomics.
