Most people know chiropractors work with athletes. Fewer realize that performing musicians face some of the most demanding physical challenges of any professional – and that chiropractic care has been a quiet cornerstone of career longevity for some of the most well-known names in music. At The Chiropractic Place in Montrose, Dr. Brian Miller has spent four decades as the chiropractor backstage, on set, and on tour for musicians and performers that most people would recognize immediately.
Why Musicians Need Chiropractic Care – And Why Most Don’t Talk About It
Think about what a touring musician actually does. They load and carry heavy equipment. They perform for hours under stage lighting in positions that put enormous strain on the neck, shoulders, and back. They sleep on tour buses and in different beds every night. They repeat this for weeks or months at a time with almost no recovery built into the schedule.
A guitarist playing a show every night isn’t so different from a pitcher throwing a full game. The repetitive demands of their craft create cumulative stress on specific joints and soft tissues. The difference is that athletes have entire sports medicine staffs. Musicians often have nobody – until something breaks down badly enough that they can’t perform.
There’s also a professional culture of not talking about physical problems. Touring is expensive, cancelations have real consequences, and showing weakness in a competitive industry carries risk. So musicians push through pain in ways that create long-term problems.
Dr. Brian Miller’s History With the Music World
Dr. Brian Miller, DC, CCWP, FICPA, isn’t just a chiropractor who has treated a few musicians. He’s been embedded in the world of professional performance for decades – working with artists across genres at a level most practitioners never experience.
His roster includes members of the Michael Jackson Band, the Beastie Boys, the Elton John Band, the Brian Setzer Orchestra, the Phil Collins Band, the L.A. Philharmonic, and The Tonight Show Band, among many others. He’s worked with rock acts including Cream, Beck, L.A. Guns, Quiet Riot, the David Lee Roth Band, the Michael Schenker Group, Vixen, and Autograph. He’s also served as on-set doctor for movies and MTV productions.
That depth of experience isn’t just a credential. It means Dr. Brian understands how performers use their bodies, what their specific demands are, and what “I need to be on stage tonight” actually means in terms of care priorities.
The Physical Demands That Break Performers Down
Every instrument and performance style creates its own set of physical stresses. Here’s what we see most often.
Guitar and Bass Players
The forward-leaning position of playing a hanging guitar or bass loads the cervical and thoracic spine constantly. Players who perform with the instrument hung low – which is common stylistically – are in a position that puts sustained tension on the neck and upper back. Add in the repetitive motion of strumming and fretting, and you get a predictable pattern of shoulder girdle imbalance and neck problems.
Drummers
Drumming is one of the most physically demanding things a person can do. Full-body coordination, sustained effort, and the shock absorbed through the arms and shoulders on every hit creates cumulative stress throughout the spine. Lower back problems are extremely common in drummers who spend hours a day at the kit.
Vocalists and Frontpeople
Stage presence requires a lot of the body. Vocalists who perform with microphones on stands spend time in forward-flexed positions. Those who move actively during performance put unexpected demands on their joints. And the simple act of projecting the voice powerfully night after night creates tension in the neck and throat that radiates into the upper back and shoulders.
Wind and String Players
Violinists, viola players, and flutists hold sustained asymmetrical positions that create chronic imbalance in the cervical spine and shoulders. Players often develop one-sided problems that worsen over years without proper structural care. Brass players deal with jaw, neck, and thoracic issues from the sustained effort of playing with embouchure.
Conducting and Music Direction
Conductors and music directors spend hours with arms raised and the thoracic and cervical spine under sustained load. The combination of repetitive arm movement and sustained forward head position creates a specific injury pattern that’s well-addressed by chiropractic care.
What Chiropractic Care Does for Performers
The basics of chiropractic care for musicians are the same as for any patient: restore proper spinal alignment, reduce nerve interference, release restricted joints, and support the body’s natural ability to function and heal.
But the application is different. A touring musician who needs to perform tomorrow has different priorities than someone who can take two weeks off. Care needs to be effective, targeted, and non-disruptive. That means selecting the right technique for the right situation – knowing when a full manual adjustment is appropriate and when an instrument-assisted approach, which applies precise force without high-velocity movement, is a better choice.
For performers dealing with inflammation – which often comes with repetitive motion injuries and overuse – cold laser therapy is a meaningful tool. It reduces inflammation and supports tissue repair without any downtime, which makes it well-suited for patients who can’t afford to be out of commission. Sessions are short, comfortable, and can be incorporated around a performance or rehearsal schedule.
The Overlap Between Athletic Performance and Musical Performance
At The Chiropractic Place, the athletic performance approach that Dr. Riley Miller applies to golfers and sports patients has a natural connection to how we think about musicians. Performance is performance. Whether you’re trying to play 18 holes without your back seizing up or play three sets every night for six weeks, the underlying principle is the same: the body needs to function at a high level under repeated physical demand, and structural integrity is the foundation of that.
Dr. Brian’s philosophy of treating the whole person – not just the symptom – is particularly relevant for performers. A guitarist with recurring shoulder pain doesn’t just need the shoulder treated. They need an understanding of how their playing position, their touring habits, and their overall spinal health are connected, and a care plan that addresses all of it.
Why Performers in the Greater Los Angeles Area Come to Montrose
The Los Angeles music industry is one of the largest in the world. Studios, venues, orchestras, touring operations, and recording sessions draw working musicians from across the region. The fact that The Chiropractic Place sits in Montrose – accessible from the greater LA area while remaining a community-rooted practice – has made it a natural destination for performers who want serious care without navigating a large medical system.
Dr. Brian has lectured at colleges, hospitals, and schools. He’s authored WELLNESSOLOGY, published on Amazon, which reflects the foundational health philosophy he’s applied to patients across all walks of life for over four decades. His 40,000+ patients span every background and profession imaginable. But the musicians hold a particular place in the story of this practice.
Care That Understands What You Do
If you’re a musician, performer, or someone who uses your body in a highly specific, repetitive, demanding way – and you’ve been dealing with pain that’s starting to affect your work – this practice understands your situation in a way that most don’t.
The Chiropractic Place in Montrose has been part of the performing arts community for four decades. If you’re in the La Cañada, La Crescenta, Glendale, or broader Los Angeles area and want care from a chiropractor who has actually been in the room with the people you admire, we’d be glad to talk.
Call us at (818) 249-2300 or visit our contact page to schedule. New patients can take advantage of our new patient special to get started.
