The second installment in the series about focal dystonia, about the first unusual manifestations of this strange disorder

During the first three months of 2017, I kept practising tirelessly, working on follow-through preparation and Scott Tennant's technical exercises. Even then, I couldn't say exactly which day things changed; my memory of it is a little blurred. I only know that playing became very difficult. My right hand grew inaccurate, and I lost a great deal of speed.

By the middle of April 2017, however, I had noticed the strangest symptom of all. Whenever I brought my right hand towards the guitar, my middle finger curled into my palm and I couldn't move it. When I moved my hand away from the guitar, I could move the finger again. But as soon as I tried to play, it curled back into my palm. I couldn't understand this odd behaviour. I remember that when I first told someone about it, nobody understood. Basically, no one seemed to find it particularly strange. I couldn't properly demonstrate it either: it happened only when I wanted to play the guitar.

Even with my middle finger curled into my palm, I could still play with all the other fingers. I had always practised using my little finger too, so I began playing with the remaining four fingers, leaving the middle finger out completely.

I also visited the orthopaedic department at St Anne's Hospital in Brno and tried to explain my problem to the doctor. At first, he thought I was describing trigger finger, which he said could be treated. Once we established that it wasn't trigger finger, he performed an ultrasound scan and an X-ray, but found nothing. Unable to think of another explanation, he gave me injections around the forearm in case there was inflammation and told me not to use the hand at all for a month. Perhaps, he suggested, I had overworked the muscles through constant practice. I felt rather like a malingerer: the doctor could see nothing wrong.

Without the guitar, I couldn't actually demonstrate my difficulties, and I wasn't in any pain either.

I went home hoping that a month's rest would put everything right. I decided not to talk much about my difficulties. When people asked about my bandaged arm, I said I had inflammation and couldn't practise for a while. Fortunately, the school year was nearly over, so I didn't really need to play. I looked forward hopefully to July, when I wanted to resume practising properly.