Table 1 Features of the history suggestive of FTSDma

• Gradual onset of playing impairment (usually longer than hours to days)

• Diffuse sense of loss of fine control of finger or hand movements

• Need for increased effort to perform passages that were previously automatic

• Absence of pain

• Absence of numbness or parasthesias

• Impairment that does not remit, although it may wax and wane

• Practicing worsens the condition

• Rest does not help

• Impairment is present almost from the moment of playing (i.e. there is not a window of normal playing for 10–15 minutes before symptoms occur)

• Changing technique or refingering passages temporarily helps, but symptoms eventually recur