Writer’s cramp, also known as graphospasm, is a movement disorder that causes involuntary contractions of the hand and forearm muscles involved in writing.
The cramp causes a disorder of motor skills, altering the writing and creating a hand tension that makes the hand practically impossible to move.
History of writer’s cramp
Writer’s cramp was first described by the Scottish neurosurgeon Charles Bell in the early 19th century (1830), sparking controversy over whether it had a psychiatric or neurological origin.
The truth is that this condition was common at that time, both among the many people who had administrative jobs and among those who worked in other occupations that required repetitive hand movements, such as shoemakers, blacksmiths, milkers, seamstresses, and so on.
William R. Gowers, one of the founders of contemporary neurology, described this condition as “occupational neurosis” in 1888, anticipating what is now known as occupational dystonia. However, it wasn’t until 1911 that Oppenheim first introduced the term “dystonia” to refer to this disease.
Writer’s Cramp or Writer’s Dystonia
We can conclude that writer’s cramp is a focal hand dystonia, within the group of occupational dystonias, since it occurs exclusively during a specific task, such as writing, while other manual activities are not affected.
This type of dystonia is increasingly common in computer users, affecting their use of the keyboard and mouse.
Treatment of Writer’s Dystonia
Although there are specific exercises to retrain the handwriting, many of the exercises for focal hand dystonia from my recovery program used for the treatment of musician’s focal dystonia are equally applicable and effective for writer’s dystonia.
It should be noted that when dystonia manifests itself in the use of the computer keyboard and mouse, the hand behavior is the same as in pianist’s dystonia.
The treatment approach, as well as the work done on the emotional factor, proprioception, and mind-set, are shared by the different types of dystonia treatment.
