Musicians with Dystonia Bulletin Board

That last remark is the REALLY important one!

I am no expert on embouchure dystonia, I have FD in my right hand but we are in the same boat. The loss is huge, I know. Difficult to explain it to anyone but another musician.

The fact that very occasionally you get the feeling of freedom and control is something to take great encouragement from - your natural and free way of playing is still there, just buried beneath a mess of incorrect contractions which have become conditioned and automatic and are very difficult to undo.

Recovering your ability to play will require enormous courage, a willingness to change (psychologically, emotionally and how your approach your instrument) and very probably guidance. Search this site for articles on Fabra (may be mispelt Fabras) and you will find people who have been helped by him. He is based in Spain but also gives lessons and advice (he is not a doctor) via Skype I believe.

Farias is another Spaniard getting amazing results with FD sufferers (again, not a doctor but an expert in biomechanics and a music coach). I am not sure of his experience with embouchure dystonia, most of his published materials relate to the hands.

Personally I think you will be wasting your time seeking any kind of medical treatment to your problem - it doesn't exist. Most alternative therapies too will be irrelevant, but IMO things like meditation/relaxation can be useful as an aid to retraining, especially if you can bring to mind strong images and recollections of how it feels to play freely. Anything that helps you relax to approach retraining with a clear mind will be a good thing.

Trying to battle through it - eg. by trying to force your mouth to play properly, will just reinforce the problem.

Good luck, stick around and read as much as you can of the archives here.