The use of three combined techniques in the retraining of a mucisian with focal dystonia. A case study.

Focal dystonia results from a sustained simultaneous co-contraction of agonists and antagonists muscle fibers which can cause twisting, involuntary movements or abnormal postures that interfere with voluntary control of the hand, arm, mouth, or other muscle groups involved in a given action; for example, playing an instrument, or handwriting. This descriptive, single case study, sought to explore the effectiveness of a treatment that combined three procedures: the threshold technique, imagery, and neurofeedback induced relaxation, in retraining of a professional cello player with focal dystonia. After two weeks of treatment, experts judged the results inconclusive; however, the report from the actual patient accounted for a noteworthy recovery over time. In the absence of an effective method to rehabilitate musicians with focal dystonia, the relevance of this study resided on the possibility of identifying and combining specific techniques that could be effective. Future studies might want to explore these same or different techniques, but perhaps for a longer period of time.