Posted by: Moebius Tripper ®
02/05/2010, 23:41:33
Edit
|
I started playing flamenco guitar at the age of 16....It wasn't until I was 49 that I developed "focal dystonia." I am a left handed guitarist. The condition is located in my left ring finger. This finger cramps up and curls inward when ever I play a reverse arpeggio...I recently came across a video on how to cure this condition. The video was made by Dr. Joaquin Farias Ph.D. and is called: "Playing without Practice." He also has a small book called: "Rebellion of the Body," that talks about other guitarists who have focal dystonia and were cured, some by only becoming aware of their condition, as the book will explain....I have been only doing the exercises in the video for 4 weeks and have already noticed a great improvement in my playing after not playing the guitar for more than 13 years. I am 62 at this time. I also came across a great 18 page article by a former sufferer of dystonia who cured himself by doing certain finger exercises without a guitar. His name is, Jason W. Solomon, and his article is called: "What Every Guitarist Should Know: A Guide to the Prevention and Rehabilitation of Focal Hand Dystonia." In his article on page 5, he has some very interesting information about how he cured himself by doing "Sensory motor Retraining," where he recommends touching certain things, using each finger for 10 minutes. For instance, running a comb over each finger to remind the brain that each finger is separate from the other fingers of those fingers affected by dystonia...This will 're-tune" the brain so it will not send signals for 2 fingers at the same time, or "miss fire." It seems the brain cannot tell the difference when you are playing very fast picados. It thinks you are using one finger when you develop dystonia. He says: "you must instigate plastic changes in the sensory motor portion of the brain-causing it to re-differentiate the individual fingers of the dystonic hand.".......By the way, I found that if you wrap a 2-3 inch piece of "Masking Tape" around the first joint of your ring finger, the finger that is affected with dystonia in my case, you may be able to play ascending arpeggios again...The tape acts as a flexible brace and prevents the ring finger from completely cramping into the palm of your hand. The 18 page article by Jason W. Solomon can be found by doing a "Google search" of:
A Guide to the Prevention and Rehabilitation of Focal Hand Dystonia by Jason W. Solomon.
|
