Focal Dystonia Awareness
​
As research continues, it is becoming increasingly evident that awareness of focal dystonia among musicians remains concerningly low. Meanwhile, the number of musicians reporting to have focal dystonia or seeking help for the condition remains concerningly high.
Improving education and awareness is a research priority within the field of adult-onset focal dystonias (Altenmüller & Jabusch, 2010). Performance-related health education and awareness programs are increasing, both in quantity, quality, and in scope, and several studies involving both student and professional musicians have revealed statistically significant health improvement instigated by programs of health awareness (Baadjou et al., 2019; Chan et al., 2013; Chan et al., 2014; Rickert et al., 2015; Williamon & Thompson, 2006).
To date, however, within the field of musicians' dystonia, existing health programs remain largely generic and do not offer specific information relating to the condition. One possibility for this is the fact that musicians' dystonia is still regarded as a “rare occurrence”, although a 1-3% prevalence (Altenmüller & Jabusch, 2010) among musicians would suggest that this is not the case. It could also be argued that the condition is considered by many to be “incurable”, therefore any negative effects on mental health and well-being may be disproportionally harmful when exposing musicians pre-emptively to information about a complex condition.
​
However, considering my own experiences with focal dystonia, and the frustration of not knowing precisely what was happening to me physically at the time of onset, I would argue that a prior awareness and understanding, as with other performance-related health conditions, is important. Being aware of the basic neurology of movement whilst playing allows musicians to practice and perform in more informed and healthy ways. Understanding why it is important to take care of that neurology, and what may potentially go wrong if it is neglected, is crucial.
​