From Science to Practice webinar | The musician's hand: recognizing and treating focal dystonia in instrumentalists

This webinar starts with an introduction to the state of the art in literature regarding focal dystonia in musicians. It provides essential tools to identify the main patterns of focal dystonia when evaluating a musician’s hand for the first time, particularly in the pianist. This will be followed by the description of the clinical case of a pianist (male, 36 yo) suffering from focal dystonia in the right hand since 2017 and the rehabilitation protocol adopted. The key points of the treatment are the therapeutic exercises aimed at inhibiting the clinical signs given by the focal dystonia and the technical reset on the piano through the choice of the appropriate repertoire for each phase of treatment, thanks to the professional musical knowledge of his hand therapist. 

Learning objectives:

• What is focal dystonia and how it manifests itself in instrumentalists;
• The initial assessment of focal dystonia: which signs and symptoms the patient describes when he/she plays the instrument;
• Focus on differential diagnosis between focal dystonia and overuse/misuse syndrome;
• Main guidelines for the treatment of focal dystonia

Target audience:

Physiotherapists, Occupational therapists, Psychologists, Medical specialists (Neurologist/Orthopedic)