[Dixielandjazz] dystonia

[billsharp]

Here's another of those strange maladies that I'd never heard of, 
called dystonia.  My buddy Bob Romans is purchasing  a cornet from a 
fellow who can't play it any longer (if he could play it longer, it 
would be called a trumpet), because the seller has dystonia.   The 
person describes his condition as follows:  " Dystonia is a very vexing 
and troubling condition. It affects people in different ways--or should 
I say different parts of the anatomy. Piano players get it in their 
hands. They can not move their fingers to play. There is an actual case 
of a concert pianist who came down with the condition and could not 
play for thirty years and is now back to playing. It is not a 
psychological condition. Neurologists have done studies and can show 
that there is some type of neurological malfunction, but they have no 
regimen for a cure. As it regards trumpet players, it can be evidenced 
in a very rapid trembling of the lips (the mouthpiece will almost 
bounce off the chops) and then there will be missed notes from a lack 
of vibration or ability to control the embouchure. In my case, a 
slurring from G to low C may disappear even though I have made this 
slur a thousand times in practice. Since the messages to the muscles 
come through the nerves and the brain needs to send signals, there 
appears to be a problem in how the messages do or do not get sent to 
the embouchure. To date, I have found no one who has documented any 
type of regimen or cure. I have spoken to one professional freelance 
trumpet player who has it, and he has not been able to find a cure. I 
have communicated with a college professor who teaches low brass. He is 
a tuba player who has been able to function but not at the level he 
formerly enjoyed. And he had no encouraging word of advice for me. I 
have read almost all the literature on the topic and have consulted 
with a friend of mine who teaches in the medical school of Wright State 
  University, where I just retired from. He also plays euphonium and has 
spoken on the topic. But he also has failed to find anything more than 
I have. There is quite a lot of information available on the topic and 
much that is quite useless. There is also a dystonia foundation if you 
would like more information. You can find it easily by using Google on 
the Internet.
 
That’s the short of a very long problem. And may you never experience 
it first hand, or first chops-"

I've never heard of this "Dystonia"  before this.  Anyone else you 
DJMLers know of anyone else who suffered in their musical careers 
because of it?  And did they find a way to get rid of it?  We might be 
able to help this fellow, if you know by perchance someone who had it 
and got rid of it, if that's possible.  It seems to be such a weird 
problem.   Maybe it's because they all  continued playing on their 
mouthpieces after the coating wore off.  But then, what about the piano 
player?  Maybe it's because they all ate mouldy figs,  I mean 
?????????? Jeeez Louise, what other strange maladies lurk in the 
corners waiting to attack musicians?