Relation between muscle activation pattern and pain: an explorative study in a bassists population.

Objective: To explore the muscle activation patterns in relation to pain complaints in bassists studied during a musical task. This study was based on the assumption that pain complaints are caused by increased muscle activation during playing or relaxation and/or faster onset of fatigue of muscles.
Design: Cross-sectional study.
Setting: Nonclinical.
Participants: Student bass guitarists (N=36) from conservatories in the Netherlands.
Interventions: Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures: Bassists played a standard music piece for 30 minutes. Muscle activation levels and pain were recorded. Pain was registered with a Numeric Rating Scale (NRS 0-10). The muscle activation level of both the trapezius muscles and flexor carpi radialis was measured with sEMG: sEMG as the percentage of the maximal voluntary isometric contraction (%MVC) and the slope of the sEMG (slope of %MVC) were calculated. The %MVC as a function of time and the slope of %MVC were calculated during playing and for rest periods before and after playing. For statistic analysis, the Mann-Whitney U test and a multilevel multiregression analysis were used for comparing the sEMG data of bassists with and without pain.
Results: No significant differences in %MVC or the slope of %MVC were between the bassists with and without pain complaints.
Conclusions: The results surprisingly indicate that pain complaints of bassists may not be associated with another muscle activation pattern. It is, therefore, not likely that pain is caused by increased muscle activation during playing and/or relaxation, nor by faster onset of fatigue.
(Copyright © 2013 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)