World Scene: United Kingdom

Truth about 'cello scrotum'

"Cello scrotum", a nasty ailment allegedly suffered by musicians, does not exist and the condition was just a hoax, Elaine Murphy, a former Professor of Psychiatry of Old Age at Guy's Hospital in London, has admitted.

Back in 1974, in a letter to the British Medical Journal, she reported that cellists suffered from the painful complaint caused by their instrument repeatedly rubbing against their body. The claim had been inspired by reports in the BMJ about the alleged condition guitar nipple, caused by irritation when the guitar was pressed against the chest.