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by Apostolos Paraskevas (Author)
After a concert, I developed focal dystonia (FD) in my right hand almost overnight. Over four years, I dedicated close to 7,000 hours to successfully rehabilitating myself, and I am now free of symptoms. My rehabilitation focused on reducing tension in my hand and retraining my brain through proper, relaxed hand movements, which I practiced extensively. In this article, I'm sharing my recovery journey to offer hope and assistance to other musicians with FD. Full recovery from Focal Dystonia (FD) means that technique and musicianship are restored and even better than before the injury (the hand moves freely without tension). It requires a serious time investment to re-learn the art of playing at a professional level. I have played at more than 1,500 concerts without any injuries. When FD affected me, I couldn't play a simple arpeggio, a single scale, or even an open string without immense tension on my hand and with uncontrollable curling and extension of my fingers. Today (almost four years later), I can play again my original compositions and also standard repertoire such as A. B. Mangore's La Catedral, Una Limosna Por El Amor de Dios, J. S. Bach lute Suites and Partitas (yes, the Ciaccona as well), with no tension at all and with perfect control of all of my fingers.
