Hand Therapy for Musicians by Dr. Aviva Wolff
Aviva works with individual musicians and musical groups to educate, prevent and manage performance related injuries. She uses a customized approach that is based on the player’s specific instrument and performance demands to promote healthy habits and avoid injury. She is available for individual consultations and group presentations.
Aviva Wolff is an occupational therapist, certified hand therapist, and clinician-scientist whose work sits at the intersection of clinical care, movement science, and the unique demands of musical performance. With more than 30 years of experience treating upper extremity injuries, she has built a practice — and a research program — around a simple conviction: musicians deserve specialized care that understands not just the injury, but the instrument.
She is an Assistant Professor at Weill Cornell Medicine and a clinician-scientist at Hospital for Special Surgery, where she directs the upper extremity clinical movement analysis program and leads hand and wrist biomechanics research at the Leon Root, MD Motion Analysis Laboratory. She consults for The Juilliard School on musician-related injuries and serves on the executive committee of the Weill Cornell Medicine Center for the Performing Arts.
Aviva's clinical practice centers on the prevention, assessment, and treatment of performance-related musculoskeletal injuries and overuse conditions in instrumentalists and performing artists. She takes a deeply individualized approach — one grounded in movement analysis, functional biomechanics, and an appreciation for the physical and artistic demands each musician brings to the table.
She is certified by the Performing Arts Medicine Association (PAMA) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), and is licensed to practice in New York and New Jersey. She is available for private consultations and educational presentations for musicians at all levels, from conservatory students to professional performers.
Aviva's research focuses on musician injury prevention and management, wrist and elbow biomechanics, and hand and arm function across a range of musculoskeletal and neuromuscular conditions. She developed the Musicians' Health Management (MHM) Program, an evidence-based initiative designed to prevent and manage performance-related injuries through structured screening, education, and intervention — currently being studied in a multi-site research trial.
She has led and collaborated on numerous funded studies with orthopedic surgeons, physiatrists, sports medicine physicians, and biomechanists, resulting in multiple publications and international presentations.
Aviva is widely recognized as a national and international lecturer on musician health, injury prevention, and upper extremity rehabilitation. She served as President of the American Society of Hand Therapy (ASHT) and has received multiple awards for her contributions to hand therapy and upper extremity biomechanics, including the prestigious Vargas International Teaching Award from the American Association for Hand Surgery.
She is a member of the Exception MD Network, a global network of specialists recognized for their commitment to excellence in performing arts medicine.
Aviva is available for individual consultations, institutional partnerships, and speaking engagements.
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