Increased Eye Pressure Noted in Musicians

Glaucoma can be associated with increased pressure in the eyes (though not always – one can have glaucoma without elevated intraocular pressure and vice versa).

A team of Scottish and German scientists have found that people who play brass and woodwind instruments can experience elevated eye pressure, a condition that these scientists do link to glaucoma.

Previous studies have found that high-resistance instruments such as the oboe were linked to increased eye pressure, but this is the first to note that lower-resistance instruments like the clarinet can also be linked to the potentially dangerous spike in pressure.  The study included 52 professional musicians playing in real life conditions.  The highest increases in pressure were noted in brass musicians when they played loud, high notes.

Source: https://www.gcu.ac.uk/sls/newsevents/news/bydate/2011/1/name,20760,en.html