Piano Virtuoso Uses Rolfing to Help Heal His Hands
“In 1982, feeling stronger, Fleisher made a first attempt at a two-handed comeback. He made it through the concert, but realized it was what he called an evening of pretense. He wasn’t really healed.
It wasn’t until the mid-’90s that his problem was given a name: focal dystonia, a neurological disorder that can be triggered by repetitive movement and stress and attacks a particular set of muscles. And while there’s still no cure, a treatment involving shots of Botox and a massage technique known as Rolfing allowed Fleisher to uncurl his fingers and play, and, this time, at the start of a new century, to realize a true comeback.
Now in his 80s, he plays worldwide, performing pieces for two hands and one hand, sometimes with Katherine Jacobson Fleisher, his wife of 28 years.”
