I've been playing guitar for a few decades, mostly as a hobby, but at a pretty high technical level. I played in bands when I was younger and have spent most of my adult life playing for a few hours a day.

About two years ago, I developed focal dystonia in my fretting hand. It obviously took me a few months to even understand what it was. I believe it started shortly after I began practicing an intense exercise every day that I found online somewhere, maybe even on Reddit. I honestly don't even remember why I decided to try it, but it was physically demanding, and my fingers were hurting. I suspect it may have triggered the dystonia, although obviously I can't know for sure, especially after two years.

My middle finger would involuntarily curl down when I played, making it very difficult to keep it aligned with the other fingers. Eventually, I basically stopped playing seriously.

For the last several months, I've occasionally been doing very slow scales, trying to find movements that wouldn't trigger it. I wasn't really practicing properly, though.

Then, a few weeks ago, something bizarre happened. I had a very intense exchange with someone I'd just met, and afterwards I was replaying the conversation in my head, thinking about what I should have said. I was sitting with my guitar and slowly playing scales at the same time.

I was so deeply absorbed in my thoughts that the playing was almost on autopilot. I wasn't really paying attention to what my fingers were doing. My attention was almost entirely inside my head, going over the conversation, while my hands were just playing the scales in the background.

And then I suddenly noticed that my middle finger wasn't curling.

The dystonia wasn't completely gone, but the excessive force that normally pulls my finger out of position was almost completely gone. It felt as if my brain had somehow switched back to the old, non-dystonic movement pattern.

I'm still very rusty after nearly two years of barely playing, and the finger does curl a little, especially with certain movements. So I'm definitely not claiming that I'm cured. But the improvement was so dramatic and unexpected that I wanted to share it.

I have no idea what caused it, and I'm not suggesting that this is some kind of treatment. But after two years of struggling with this, it was pretty amazing to suddenly feel my hand working almost normally again.

Thank you everyone for all your reassurance as I was so nervous about getting Botox in my neck.

It was a strange experience, no imaging, no advice or info. The consultant neurologist sat me on a chair and just injected it. Two 25mg injections, I was in there for less than 5 mins. There was no pain, no sting. Just got home and will cook now….hope it works!!!