Back on Stage: Focal dystonia helps musician refocus

Guitarist Billy McLaughlin addresses a crowd at a recent concert held to benefit the Dystonia Medical Research Foundation (DMRF). McLaughlin, who was diagnosed with focal dystonia in 2001, is now the Ambassador of Awareness for DMRF. Photo by John RhodesBy Frances Parrish
parrishf@mytjnow.com

Billy McLaughlin has become a voice of Dystonia, and he came back to Winthrop on October 2, 2011, with a new song and an inspirational story.   

In 2001, McLaughlin was diagnosed with focal dystonia, and he is now the new ambassador for Dystonia Medical Research Foundation (DMRF).  DMRF was founded in 1976 and is dedicated to finding a cure and educating and supporting people with dystonia.  

Task-specific focal dystonia is a neurological movement disorder recognized by involuntary muscle contractions and spasms in the face, neck, feet, hands and vocal cords. It can occur in any individual, adult or child. 

However, musicians are more likely to get dystonia than any other profession including dentists, surgeons and writers. This is because music making is very complicated and intense since it is linked to the limbic system, which controls the emotions. 

For a period of time, McLaughlin would come back from the doctor’s with a report of being in good health, but when McLaughlin played the guitar, three of his fingers on the right hand would curl up. It was a relief to him when he was diagnosed because “just clarifying that it wasn’t something I had made up; it was really, truly happening… was an important step of moving past it,” McLaughlin said. 

There are thirteen types of dystonia, but two types are most common among musicians: focal hand and embouchure.  Focal hand dystonia is the loss of the ability to perform practiced movements. The word focal implies that the disorder only affects one part of the body.  Dystonia can be developed through intensely practiced movements for a lengthy period of time, and the disease is only noticeable through a specific task.  

The other form, embouchure dystonia, affects brass and woodwind musicians.  Instead of their hands being affected, the mouth, face, jaw and tongue are subjected to the disorder.  To position the mouth to fit the mouthpiece and play effectively requires the use of at least twelve muscles in the face.  

Some symptoms of focal hand dystonia are a subtle loss of control in fast paced music, lack of precision, curling of fingers, fingers becoming stuck, involuntary flexion and a tremor or spasm of the hand. The symptoms for embouchure are different, and include air leaks out of the corners of the mouth and involuntary contractions of the muscles in the face.   Dystonia has no specific cause. However, a genetic predisposition can be a factor, increasing the chance of developing the disorder.  

According to Dystonia Medical Research Foundation, dystoina has been compared to a “computer virus” in the sensory and motor systems. 

There is no cure for the disease, but there are several treatments like Anticholinergic drugs, which improve the connection of the message from the brain to the muscle, and botulinum toxin injections that reduce the spasm by weakening the muscle. 

There is a likelihood that McLaughlin could develop dystonia in his left hand as well, but he can’t think about that.  “I bring as much energy to every show . . .  if it’s my last show, I don’t want it to be mediocre,” McLaughlin said.   

Dystonia does not only affect how a musician plays, it also takes a toll on the physiological well-being of the musician as well.  When McLaughlin was twelve years old, he picked up a guitar and immediately knew that was what he wanted to do.   

He says he lives to play music, and that music was his inspiration to retrain himself to play guitar with his left hand. “I didn’t want to lose my music. I didn’t want to lose what I love the most,” McLaughlin said.  It was devastating to him when he realized he was physically unable to play the guitar.  

Rumors flew that he couldn’t play well anymore because of a mental health issue or drugs or alcohol like a typical performer. “It was important to put that behind me…because that was not what was happening.”  

He said he wasn’t able to tell his fans what was wrong, because he himself didn’t know, so he cut them out of the equation for a little while.  A year after he was diagnosed he lost his record deal, and became disconnected with his life as a performer.   

By 2007, he was back on stage and was able to play his music again for his fans.  “I am a big fan of Billy McLaughlin. It is amazing he switched hands and relearned everything,” a local resident said.    

A friend of McLaughlin said, “He is so inspiring. Even if I didn’t know him, I would [still] be here [tonight].”