About 5 months ago, I began experiencing numbness in the 4th and 5th fingers of my right hand. The numbness, I believe, is caused by - or at least correlated to - piano playing. I also have chronic neck pain/migraines that might be contributing. The symptoms are typically brought on by playing quick, difficult passages of music on the piano, and persist sometimes hours after playing. During the last few months I have noticed that, off and on, my hand shakes/tremors uncontrollably - particularly when I hold my arm close to my torso. My hand has gotten weak and uncoordinated when playing and the numbness has now spread to my palm. It's become difficult for me to play for even brief periods of time (easy or hard pieces) without symptoms surfacing. I have talked with 3 Physical Therapists who do not have any answers for me. When they test for neurological damage they are unable to find any problems. I have tried resting, taking regular breaks, changing body position/technique and ice, but the problem continues to resurface.
I don't want to quit piano, but I'm worried that I will cause permanent damage if I don't find some sort of intervention. Is it possible that I am experiencing early symptoms of focal dytonia?
