| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
NLK
USA
17 Posts |
 Posted - 04/14/2005 : 12:43:30
|
Yesterday I got the newest installment of Scott Adams' Dilbert Newsletter... sounds like he's dealing with TMS!
WHO'S DRAWING DILBERT LATELY?
=============================
Alert readers have noticed that Dilbert looks different lately, almost as if someone else is drawing it. Well, it's still me, but here's what's happening: I lost the use of my right hand for drawing, thanks to overuse. Technically, it's called a focal dystonia. It's essentially a brain-mapping problem caused by overusing the hand. The hand is structurally healthy and perfectly fine for every possible use EXCEPT drawing. It's very specific. My brain essentially removed from me the ability to do the thing that was hurting it.
One way I can confirm that it's a brain issue is that when I try to draw with my LEFT hand, my RIGHT hand spasms immediately. Some part of my brain doesn't want me drawing because that's what caused all the discomfort.
For a few weeks I worked left-handed. I'm not quite ambidextrous, but if I work slowly, it looks about the same. Some of the lefty ones have a "L.H." on them to tip you off.
Left-hand drawing was too slow, so I looked for, and found, a technical solution. Wacom has a product that allows you to draw directly onto a special flat computer screen that tilts and turns just like paper on a drawing board. It's called the Cintiq 21UX, and I've been using it for the past several weeks, with much success. It will take a while for my characters to look the same as old, but I'm closing in on it.
The reason I can draw on the computer, but not on paper, is because now I work at a different scale (larger), and the feel of the stylus on the screen is so different from pen-on-paper that my brain doesn't think I'm drawing, so it doesn't trigger the hand spasms.
Brains are funny.
|
|
|
Jim D.
USA
63 Posts |
Posted - 04/14/2005 : 13:38:07
|
"It's essentially a brain-mapping problem caused by overusing the hand. The hand is structurally healthy and perfectly fine for every possible use EXCEPT drawing."
I'm sorry for Scott Adams, but if one of us on this board were going to write a satire on what people say (or their doctors tell them) about inexplicable pain, Adams's statement would be it. I would say he needs to buy a couple of books written by a New York doctor. It is possible that he might listen to the TMS diagnosis since he already perceives, at least dimly, that what he says makes no sense. A "brain-mapping problem" indeed!
|
 |
|
|
Stryder
686 Posts |
Posted - 04/14/2005 : 21:36:27
|
| I bet Dogbert will never have TMS. He doesn't repress any of his feelings at all does he ;-) -Stryder |
|
|
|
Dave
USA
1864 Posts |
Posted - 04/15/2005 : 16:04:22
|
More on "focal dystonia" in the news today.
Unfortunately, like many other studies, this one makes the flawed assumption that muscle contractions can not be caused by psychological factors. In their view, the EMG test "proves" that this is a physical problem. How wrong they are...
Golfers' Yips May Be Movement Disorder: Study
Fri Apr 15,12:17 PM ET Health - Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Yips, a condition that plagues professional and amateur golfers alike and leaves them unable to complete a stroke, may be a movement disorder similar to writer's cramp and musician's cramp, researchers reported this week.
The finding supports suspicions that the condition, which can cause a golfer to badly miss a usually easy putt or even drop a club, is not all in the head. But it does not necessarily point to a treatment.
Laboratory tests in the study, which compared golfers who suffered from the yips with golfers who did not, showed evidence of involuntary movements called co-contractions in those who had the problem, said Dr. Charles Adler of the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, the lead researcher.
"The co-contractions were similar to those of task-specific dystonias -- or movement disorders -- such as writer's cramp and musician's cramp," Adler said in a statement. Adler presented his findings to a meeting of the American Academy of Neurology in Miami late on Thursday.
These movement disorders are not well-understood but doctors believe damaged nerves may be to blame.
German golfer Bernhard Langer, a two-time U.S. Masters tournament champion and captain of Europe's winning Ryder Cup team last year, is known for his struggles to overcome the yips.
"You freeze, you totally freeze or you just jerk," Langer said in his autobiography. "At times, my putting was so bad that people were coming to watch me in the manner of those who go to motor racing to see a crash."
Other athletes can also suffer from the yips, including tennis players and cricket players.
For the experiment, Adler and colleagues used surface electromyography (EMG), a test of muscle movement, to determine whether muscles were overactive. They compared 10 golfers with yips with 10 golfers without the condition.
"While only two of the golfers felt they had their yips in the lab, under all putting conditions, 50 percent of the golfers with the yips had EMG evidence of co-contractions of muscles in the forearm just prior to the impact of the putter with the ball," said Adler.
Treatment options may be scarce. There is no specific therapy for writer's cramp, for instance, although injections of botulinum toxin, similar to Botox treatments for wrinkles, can help.
Some oral drugs may help a few people with such conditions, as well.
The Mayo Clinic team has been studying other possible ways of coping with the yips, such as specially designed clubs that release the pressure on the nerves, relaxation therapy and physical therapy.
|
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
Even Dilbert's creator deals with TMS
