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Table 1 Features of the history suggestive of FTSDma

From: Evaluating the musician with dystonia of the upper limb: a practical approach with video demonstration

• Gradual onset of playing impairment (usually longer than hours to days)
• Diffuse sense of loss of fine control of finger or hand movements
• Need for increased effort to perform passages that were previously automatic
• Absence of pain
• Absence of numbness or parasthesias
• Impairment that does not remit, although it may wax and wane
• Practicing worsens the condition
• Rest does not help
• Impairment is present almost from the moment of playing (i.e. there is not a window of normal playing for 10–15 minutes before symptoms occur)
• Changing technique or refingering passages temporarily helps, but symptoms eventually recur