It may not surprise parents that the head-banging, string-shredding world of heavy metal can seriously damage your health. But now Tony Iommi, the British guitarist who helped to invent the genre, has revealed that he is undergoing stem-cell treatment to save the hand that inspired a generation.

The number of rockers suffering from repetitive strain injuries is on the increase, and medical specialists have warned that their careers will come to an end unless they seek professional help.

As a founder member of Black Sabbath, the Birmingham rockers fronted by Ozzy Osbourne, Iommi, 61, hit on the distortion-heavy riffs that powered the group to fame. But more than 40 years of working a plectrum has taken their toll on Iommi, who has been forced off the road to undergo treatment.

“I’ve had this problem with my hand and I’ve had this stem-cell treatment on it,” Iommi told the BBC Radio 2 Radcliffe and Maconie Show. “The cartilage [was worn out between] the joints, and the joints [were] rubbing on the joints. It was bone to bone and it was getting a bit painful.”

Iommi has worn a hand guard to protect the injury but after taking painkillers and anti-inflammatories, he has turned to adult stem cells, which can restore defective muscles and help to regenerate cartilage growth. “This is the latest thing, so we’ll see if it works,” he said.

The Robens Centre for Health Ergonomics at the University of Surrey has researched musculoskeletal disorders that affect electric guitar players.

Peter Buckle said: “We have found a whole set of injuries affecting the hand, arms and wrist which you would normally associate with working on a hard, fast production line.

“Strain injuries result from overexertion and the way that guitarists hold their instruments. The temptation for younger musicians is to press too hard on the strings and try to force the frets.

“Holding the instrument away from the body to excite an audience may look good but it can put a huge pressure on the shoulder and upper arms.”

Rockers need to pace their sets, according to Professor Buckle. Guitarists should let the drummer perform a solo before they embark on a particularly challenging piece of hand work. Numbing pain with drink and drugs will also prove counter-productive in the long term, he says.

Sportsmen are also turning to stem cells to try to beat painful injuries. The American golfer John Daly said that stem cells had helped him to fight a serious rib problem.

Iommi, who is left-handed, is already the first “bionic rocker”. He lost the tips of the middle and ring finger of his right hand in an accident when he was a sheet metal worker, aged 17.

Iommi said: “The hospital told me that I should give up the guitar but I went back and made these thimbles from melted Fairy Liquid bottles. I melted them down and soldered them to make a fingertip. It was a crude version but I still have to use them today.”

He strung his guitars with extra-light strings and covered his thimbles with leather for a better grip. The sludgy, detuned sound that Iommi pioneered became the building block for the riff-based genre of heavy metal for which his band is famous.

Suffering for their art

• Status Quo, kings of the three-chord boogie, have admitted suffering from repetitive strain injuries, days before a new British tour. Francis Rossi told The Times: “I get so much pain in the back of my bicep when my left arm goes up. I feel the nerves jumping. It’s because of the way we stand and play.” Rossi, 60, and his bandmates require regular physiotherapy on the road. But he says that their injuries are no worse than anyone who has worked in manual labour for 40 years might sustain.

• Pete Townshend, of The Who, attributes his severe hearing damage to listening to studio headphones at extreme volume.

• The Rolling Stones undergo rigorous physical examinations before each tour can be insured.

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