Musician's Focal Dystonia... Really?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Anonymous
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uglyfuzzface":1gzih088 said:
I can't believe I missed this thread a few years ago , it could have made me look into this and ask the doctors . I have been in and out of the hospital for nearly 4 years , tested for alsorts of things , even had an operation for cubital tunnel which wasn't the problem , but in the last couple of weeks been sent to a neurologist who diagnosed me with focal dystonia, after only a few minutes consultation .
After checking YouTube and other web sites I'm convinced this is my problem , when you described what you had and symptoms it seems pretty much like me , middle two fingers curling etc .
Just had Botox a week ago so not sure what to expect , this dystonia is devastating to any musician.
It's took away an important chunk of my life away .
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Hang in with the shots, man! The last shots I got lasted the whole three months! I am playing better and with less discomfort than I have been able to for years. The shots don't always work though, it depends on the doc getting them in the exact right place in the muscle with the exact right amount of Botox. The more times I go back, the better my doc gets at hitting the right spots. Until there is a cure, this is the best we have, but, although I'm not 100% all the time, at least I'm not forced into playing slide all the time. Congrats on getting diagnosed though - it took me about ten years to get a proper diagnosis and the hand doctors were all telling me that nothing was wrong with me, which drove me completely crazy!

Steve
 
mixohoytian":2qgj2fcb said:
sorry to hear that
I don't know if it'd apply to you, but you never know: chiropractic
for me it is keeping me from becoming crippled
I go once a month and it fends off that which would cripple me
I have both tendinitis and carpel tunnel
simply adjusting the neck = the body can heal itself with the extremities
I don't know about your specific case though
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Thanks for trying to help, but nothing like this will do anything to help focal dystonia. Our hands are fine, the problem is in the brain. It is telling our hands to do these extraneous motions that we aren't consciously telling them to do, which also causes tightening and cramping of the hand. The Botox slightly paralyzed the muscles so the subconscious motions the brain is telling the hand to do are ignored because they aren't strong enough. Then you can control the hand better. Hopefully some cure will happen, but it will be fixing the brain.

Steve
 
Yer I inow exactly what you mean ,,, I was tested for carpel tunnel/ tendinitis/ trigger finger / and all sorts of other things ,,, they were in the end trying to write me off and suggested it was my age , I was pretty determined and insisted they keep looking and after all those years thought they would try a neurologist. It was so frustrating cos I couldn't explain to anybody what I had , they just knew I wasn't playing guitar to standard wich was tough knowing this but still trying to play on stage , each chord and note I had to think about and adapt to my condition, it hasn't been fun playing the guitar for a long time but can't imagine giving up .
 
uglyfuzzface":6ko4hxlg said:
Yer I inow exactly what you mean ,,, I was tested for carpel tunnel/ tendinitis/ trigger finger / and all sorts of other things ,,, they were in the end trying to write me off and suggested it was my age , I was pretty determined and insisted they keep looking and after all those years thought they would try a neurologist. It was so frustrating cos I couldn't explain to anybody what I had , they just knew I wasn't playing guitar to standard wich was tough knowing this but still trying to play on stage , each chord and note I had to think about and adapt to my condition, it hasn't been fun playing the guitar for a long time but can't imagine giving up .
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Yup, my experience to a tee. But I'm here to tell you it is going to get better, man! And you will love playing guitar again. The Botox is a friggin' miracle when it is done right! Keep me apprised on how it's going bro! We need to support each other And get the word out to other musician's who may be suffering and don't know what's wrong...

Steve
 
Thank you ,,,,, and just had first Botox last Friday, better than before but not perfect, either to early to tell or the Botox needs tweaking next time I go .
Thanks for the inspiration mate , it's perked me up a bit .
 
Hi, Steve!
Thanks for sharing. This post is very informative, I have the same symptomes as you and just got the diagnose "Musician's dystonia". The medical ekspertise here in Norway are all warning against Botox treatment (some of the most toxic poison in the world). The guitar has been my life since I was 14 years old, and I really struggle psychical with my situation.
It is 4,5 years since the last post here. I am very interested hearing how the botox treatement is working for you now.
(PS! sorry for the bad english, Im from Norway Skandinavia)
Kind regards
Roger
 
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