Hairdresser dystonia: an unusual substantia nigra hyperechogenicity

Task-specific dystonia in hairdressers: a questionnaire survey and review of the literature

Hairdresser dystonia is one of the occupational dystonias and task-specific movement disorders occurring as a result of long-term repetitive cutting with scissors. The task-specific dystonia manifests itself as a loss of voluntary motor control during extensive practice of cutting requiring a high level of technical proficiency. The prevalence rate of hairdresser dystonia is not well-known worldwide. A questionnaire regarding dystonia was prepared for hairdressers. After sending the questionnaires to 800 hairdressers by direct mail, 134 answers were received by mail. Five of the 134 were suspected to have hairdresser-associated focal dystonia. Thus, 3.7% of hairdressers might have task-specific dystonia. This report was limited because of the small number of participants. However, this research is valuable because it was difficult to find a patient with suspected dystonia due to concerns related to job security.

Focal task specific dystonia: a review and update

In this review, we summarize recent advances in understanding the etiology, risk factors and pathophysiology of focal task specific dystonia (FTSD), movement disorders characterized by abnormal motor activation during the performance of specific, repetitive actions. We focus on two common FTSD, musician’s dystonia and writer’s cramp. FTSD may pose a threat to the patient’s livelihood, and improved therapeutic treatments are needed.