Leon Fleisher’s Unlikely Cure

Pianist Leon Fliesher is back playing with two hands. The cure for the ailment that robbed him of the use of his right hand for so many years? Rolfing and botox. “Fleisher’s more specific medical crusade concerns what lies beneath his carpal tunnel syndrome, which is focal dystonia: His brain sends unwanted signals that leave his fingers involuntarily contracting. A specific form of rolfing, administered twice a month, gives his muscles the elasticity to perform better and to take in the effects of the botox, which erects a barrier to the unwanted contraction messages from the brain.”