Pain is -Not- My Style

Pain occasionally happens to the best of us. There are several different kinds of pain for musicians. Dull aches, sharp/shooting pains, etc...Although I am not a doctor and make no pretense at being one, I am deathly afraid of shooting pains in musicians' bodies.

A note: athletes frequently experiences aches. They tend to ice them down and understand that they are part of the game, though this isn't always true. When shooting pains happen to athletes, though, they go directly to doctors. Shooting pains are a direct, obvious sign that something is wildly wrong.

Do not "play through the pain" and go to rehearsal. This afternoon, I packed up my clarinets and went home when I found out that a musician was going to try to play through sharp, shooting pains. I decided that I didn't want any part of injuring a player. I sent her home and told her that she should take herself to a spa for the afternoon. She has a concert tonight, but was going to run herself into the ground before it. What about the rest of the week's concerts?

This kind of crap worries me. We've got to teach musicians how to stop everything and take care of themselves. It's not babying a musician to prevent possibly devastating injuries.