Musician's Focal Dystonia... Really?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
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Wow, sorry to hear this.

Keep us posted. Surely the shots will work since the person administering them is used to giving them to the other guitar guy, too.
 
Sorry to hear about this Steve. Never heard of it before. Hope those shots work out for you. Is it only in your left hand? Some kind of repetition thing?
 
And by the way, please allow me to quote my father, "Bob, it's hell getting old."

No disrespect is meant towards Steve nor do I mean to diminish his issue because it is huge as far as I'm concerned. I'm not far behind him and he's certainly in better health than I am, but age brings on new problems until ultimately, one of them kills us.
 
Steve, I'm really sorry to hear this too. I know you were having problems and last we spoke the doctor had pretty much ruled out focal dystonia, but I guess he was wrong. Hopefully the shots will work and we are all pulling for you. You know that. This is a bad dream for guitarists.
 
Bob Savage":27jl7zqf said:
And by the way, please allow me to quote my father, "Bob, it's hell getting old."

No disrespect is meant towards Steve nor do I mean to diminish his issue because it is huge as far as I'm concerned. I'm not far behind him and he's certainly in better health than I am, but age brings on new problems until ultimately, one of them kills us.
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None taken, of course, however, this disorder afflicts very young people as well, randomly. They think it has something to do with repetitive motion that musicians have to do to get better. It certainly isn't an old age thing, although, I'm sure plenty of that is coming as well. :D

Honestly, I've been dealing with this since the early 2000s as I said. In fact, none of you have ever heard me play when I wasn't suffering from it, although it certainly has gotten much worse in the last six months. I think I've mentioned it to you numerous times over the years... It all started with my middle finger where I had trouble with index-middle-pinky 3 note per string riffs I used to be able to nail at pretty high speed. I started doing them index-ring-pinky even though it was awkward because I just couldn't get my middle finer to work right any more. Then the ring finger started landing short of where I was telling it to go and I started getting the discomfort and tightness across the top of my left hand. I used to have bad days and good days where my hand felt loose and I could play pretty well, although the middle finger remained a problem. Then the bad days started WAY outnumbering the good and then about six months ago, the curling up and under the neck thing started happening, which renders any useful playing completely impossible. So this has been a long gradual descent over the last 12 years or so, with a rapid acceleration in the last six months. So weird. It feels good to have a diagnosis though instead of thinking I'm crazy because everyone kept telling me nothing was wrong with my hand...

Steve
 
Greazygeo":p6oeue0f said:
Sorry to hear about this Steve. Never heard of it before. Hope those shots work out for you. Is it only in your left hand? Some kind of repetition thing?
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It is only my left hand and ONLY guitar playing that presents the problem. I can use the hand for typing and working on my amps and I have no problem. They think this form of dystonia is repetitive motion related, which is why it seems to be task specific - in this case, fretting notes on the guitar... According to my doctor, who, as I said, is some kind of expert on this, 1 in 200 string instrument players get it, so it isn't as uncommon as I originally thought...=

Steve
 
Chubtone":2l2e0nmd said:
Steve, I'm really sorry to hear this too. I know you were having problems and last we spoke the doctor had pretty much ruled out focal dystonia, but I guess he was wrong. Hopefully the shots will work and we are all pulling for you. You know that. This is a bad dream for guitarists.
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Yeah, the same doctor did a bunch of research after he got the results of my NCV/EMG test and saw this was not a nerve/carpal tunnel issue. As soon as he saw other videos of guitarists afflicted with it in their fretting hands, he called the experts at the UC Irvine Motion Disorders Clinic and I went in and they watched me play and diagnosed it immediately.

I'm hoping the shots work, but I'll never give up playing - I love it too much. As I said, I'll just switch to slide and enjoy making music that way. Not gonna try to re-teach myself to play guitar lefty... The doctor says many people that try that just develop the dystonia in the other hand anyway...

Steve
 
BTW guys, I can't tell you how much I appreciate the outpouring of support and the ability to talk about this with you guys. Even the folks you are closest to who are not musicians or do not have an incredible passion for something, just cannot understand the overwhelming loss that you go through with something like this. It REALLY helps to get this out and hear from everyone here, because I think you guys understand a little better... It's like a support group or something. :D

I'll keep you updated on how things go with the shots. I'm optimistic. I kinda have to be...

Steve
 
Mojo sent man. Hope you get through it with the help of the shots. I play Racquetball with a gentlemen much older then I and he wouldn't even be able to play if he didn't go every couple of weeks and get cortisone shots in his knees to "lubricate" the joints. Modern medicine is amazing. Best of luck.
 
Any chance of flipping the guitar over and playing left-handed? Might sound stupid but it's better than not being able to play?
 
That's terrible. :( Hope you find something that helps. Someone suggested learning to play lefty. That'd obviously be a lot of work, but would that be doable and get around the issue?
 
To the folks asking about playing left handed, it is certainly possible, but as I said, many people who try simply end up getting focal dystonia in the other hand as well according to my doctor. As well, I can't imagine how long it would take me to develop a technique I'd be satisfied with in the limited time I have to devote to playing at this point. I'll try the shots and if they work, awesome. If not, I'm going to be a 100% slide player. I can already do that pretty well, it is something I have enough time to develop into something I'd enjoy and I'd still be able to make some music...

Steve
 
I'm really sorry to hear that, Steve. Mojo sent your way, dude.
 
sah5150":ucbwb5wh said:
if they work, awesome. If not, I'm going to be a 100% slide player. I can already do that pretty well, it is something I have enough time to develop into something I'd enjoy and I'd still be able to make some music...
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That's a great plan :thumbsup:
I never could get any kind of success with slide guitar- do you have a guitar setup specifically for that style with higher action? Or one of those sit down country table looking contraptions? Or just a beer bottle :confused:
 
Steve… sorry to hear brother. I admire your plan to make lemonade out of lemons should that be what ultimately happens.

I don't know a whole lot about this disorder- I have been referred one college-age guitar student for this problem in my 12 years of practice as a physical therapist, but it was definitely out of my wheelhouse. I even had to look up what it was.
I did some looking for you… check out this video of one of the physical therapy professors at Chapman University (which I believe isn't too far from you?) talking some treatment approaches for focal dystonia.

It may be worth reaching out to her? This is her contact at the university http://www.chapman.edu/our-faculty/alison-mckenzie

Much mojo and prayers Steve.
 
Damn, I am so sorry Steve... I hope you recover fully, and glad to hear you're playing slide. A player like you needs to make music!
 
sorry to hear that =(

if it's any help, there's a guy that gives great online bass lessons that suffers from that condition, through wearing gloves (tight silk gloves in this case) managed to overcome this , although still suffers from the condition, here's the info link below :

http://www.scottsbasslessons.com/odds-a ... the-gloves

and a video of one of his lessons

 
sah5150":3u0pcliv said:
War Admiral":3u0pcliv said:
Sorry to hear that man...even if we are not pro players its still is a terrible blow not to be able to play the instrument that we love and put so much time and our lives in. Im going through a weird thing myself with my left index finger...thought it was arthritis but its probably nerve damage of somekind thats making it stiff and numb.
Hope things work out for you Steve and the treatment has a positive effect...stay positive :thumbsup:
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Get an NCV/EMG test. That will show if you have any nerve damage. I had one and it was clear - no carpal tunnel and my nerve responses were "like a 20 year old" according to the doctor. I guess nerve response declines over time, but I'm 54 an mine hasn't...

Yeah, guitar playing and making music are not hobbies for me. It's a part of me. I've been doing it since I was 12 years old. To have it taken away in this bizarre way is crazy...

Definitely trying to stay hopeful and positive, but I've been dealing with this since the early 2000s. First it was my middle finger not listening to me, then the ring finger and now this uncontrollable curling. Tightness, shaking and discomfort playing...

Well, I've also decided to keep making music by playing slide. Been playing a lot of slide the last few weeks and having some fun with the guitar for the first time in months. It's the only way I can play anything with my left hand right now...

Steve
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Damn, Steve! That's terrible!
Have you ever played the bass? You can do lots of cool stuff with less finger movement on a 4-string.
Hope the shots work, and that you can enjoy some playing again.
 
wow Steve, that's a terrible situation especially for a guitar player. try to keep your spirits up (easier said I realize) and being positive.
best of luck and all the positive karma to you! :thumbsup:
mike.
 
Oh man! Sorry to hear it Steve. I hope you are able to find something to help you get back to playing. You'll be in my prayers.
 
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