Interview courtesy of Gyula Czeloth-Csetényi of czeloth.com More about Anna here: Anna Détári – Focal Dystonia story. Anna can be contacted for advice and coaching at: *protected email*
Archive | Focal Dystonia General Information
David Ciucevich – focal dystonia story
Hello! My name is David Ciucevich. I have been a professional musician for 35 years as a clarinetist, operatic tenor, musicologist, and educator (I also play saxophone, recorder, rhythm guitar and piano). I sailed through my early musical years including my undergraduate degree without any issues, feeling “the world was my oyster”. It was after […]
Anna Détári – focal dystonia story
My story My name is Anna Détári, I was born and raised in Hungary, and lived there ever since. Music entered my life quite early: at the age of 3 I found a recorder at home, and the next thing my parents heard were the Beatles songs they listend to, and the music of the […]
Sleep and the brain
I recently came across an article written in Swedish by Margareta Eldh and Jan-Erik Broman. Although not directly related to recovery from and prevention of Musician’s Focal Dystonia, there are many interesting points which are relevant, as sleep deprivation seems to be a factor in many cases of Musician’s Focal Dystonia that I see. The […]
Focal Hand Dystonia: A Complex Problem With A Simple Solution?
Of all the dystonias I come across in my coaching work, focal hand dystonia is the most common. This type of Musician’s Focal Dystonia occurs most often in guitarists, drummers, string players, and pianists, although several woodwind and brass players I have met have also been affected. Focal hand dystonia is indeed a complex problem, […]
Musicians with Dystonia: practice makes imperfect
This is an article I read recently, authored by Carl Ellenberger, MD. The article is long, but well worth the read as it goes a long way to explaining Musician’s Focal Dystonia, outlining who is prone to the condition, the causes, and gives some simplified ideas about what to do about it. Musicians with Dystonia: […]
Basal Ganglia: Focal Dystonia Nuts And Bolts
I often talk of the differences between a ‘nuts and bolt’s approach to focal dystonia (ie. studying the neurology, changes in the basal ganglia etc) vs. the merits of a hands-on recovery programme. Personally, I have seen far greater rehabilitation rate in musicians with focal dystonia when applying recovery programmes, than when simply talking about […]
Experiences And Thoughts Of A Horn Player With Focal Dystonia
The following is a scanned image forwarded to me by a French Horn teacher. One of his students was suffering Musician’s Focal Dystonia symptoms and without any external guidance, came up with the thoughts and musings about her condition that you see in the image below. Horn player with Focal Dystonia: some thoughts For the […]
Can Task Specific Focal Dystonia really be ‘cured’?
When I was diagnosed with Task Specific Focal Dystonia in 2005, my neurologist told me that it was incurable. However, he did offer injections of botox into the muscles of my face to help alleviate the symptoms. I humbly declined and left his office in a state of denial. My thought being, “If my face […]
Jon Gorrie – focal dystonia story
First published: 30 Sept. 2010 on BrassMusician.com as “Task Specific Focal Dystonia Cured: Trumpet embouchure back on track”. Firstly some background: Cutting a very long story rather short… I began playing trumpet at age 13 in New Zealand. At 18 I started university, and at 21 auditioned for (and was accepted for) post-graduate trumpet studies […]