Benefits and Disadvantages of Joint Hypermobility among Musicians

Joint hypermobility, also known as joint laxity and defined as a range of motion in excess of normal, 1 is common enough to evoke curiosity, but until recently it has been little investigated because of its apparent harmlessness. Historically, it attracted the attention of Hippocrates, who speculated that the Scythians were defeated in India because their joint hypermobility made it difficult for them to draw their bows or hurl their javelins 2 . On the other hand, a medical note published in 1831 3 considered the marked hypermobility of the violin virtuoso Paganini to be a major factor in his accomplishments 4 . The . . .