Splint therapy practice for a professional pianist affected by focal dystonia

Abstract

We report a case of a professional pianist with focal dystonia. The patient was a right-handed woman in her 40s who mainly performed concerts. While performing, she gradually flexed her right middle and ring fingers, leading to compensatory hyperextension of the index and little fingers, making it difficult for her to continue playing. To prevent hyperextension of the compensatory fingers, a splint was made to fix the dystonic fingers, and the patient gradually resumed practicing while wearing the splint. We believe that the splint therapy effectively suppressed excessive contraction of the compensatory finger and provided appropriate sensory input to the afferent pathways.