My name is Mikko Juutinen. I am 43 years old, and I live in Muhos, Finland. I have a wife Riikka and we have two children. I am a dentist, but I haven’t done any clinical work for almost two and half years. I am specialising in healthcare. I work as a specialist dentist. I am responsible unit manager for wellbeing in the county of North Bothnia. I also work as a part time university teacher in the University of Oulu. I teach dentistry students in my specialised field. Also, I teach first- and second-year students about what it is like to work as a dentist and how to connect with patients.
Mikko
My first symptoms of Dystonia were with my left thumb in 2017. It started during patient work. First it was a few times a day but in a few weeks the symptoms were worse and I had to go to an occupational health doctor. First, she sent me to a hand surgeon and after that my hand was getting MRI-examination. There wasn’t anything that caused the symptoms so next I went to a clinical neurophysiologist, and she examined me and also found nothing which caused my symptoms. She said it could be a neurological condition. My occupational health doctor didn’t know what was wrong with me either and at the same time symptoms started with my right hand thumb. I was in a seminar where we were having dinner and there was a neurologist on the same table. We were having coffee with cognac, and I asked about my symptoms and that clinical neurophysiologist also said it could be a neurological condition. Right away I was told my symptoms were neurological and that it is task-specific dystonia which can be treated with botulinum toxin injections. Next week I visited my occupational health doctor, and she said to me that she doesn’t know at all what is causing the symptoms. I told her about the talk with a neurologist who said that it is task-specific dystonia. After that she called the university hospital clinic of neurology and sent me there.
It took almost a year before my first injections. They wanted to do head and neck MRI-examinations and take a lot of blood tests. During that year both of my big toes started to have the same symptoms as my thumbs. In 2019 when I first got my injections, my neurologist and I were looking in an anatomy book to determine the correct muscles to be injected to allow me to continue my work as a dentist.
I have been injected four times a year since then. My dystonia symptoms have also spread, my both calves and 2nd-finger and upper back are affected and now on my injection list. Now a total of 12 muscles are injected. My cousin also has dystonia. He has cervical dystonia and spasmodic dysphonia. We live in different areas, but we can support each other.
I struggled with my work for three years, and it started to get harder and harder. Sometimes I thought that I might be more of a danger to the patient than a help. But it was such an important thing for me to work as a dentist and I liked that a lot.
During those years I had to re-think my occupation and I decided to apply for specialised studies. Now I don’t have to do any patient work but still have a lot of knowledge from the years I worked with patients and I can use that experience in my work today.
My hobbies have also changed with dystonia. Before I was a runner, but now I can’t take two running steps. I have learned to make knives and sometimes I think I should try that again. I am a big fan of football and Arsenal is my club. Scouting has been my hobby for a decade, and it is still my most important hobby. Also, organisation work is my hobby. When I got diagnosed with Dystonia I became a member of the Finnish dystonia association. I was a member for a few years when they asked me to become a member of the board. I was a member of the board for three years when I was asked to become the next president of the Finnish dystonia association. I have been a delegate on Dystonia Europe’s Ddays in Copenhagen, Dublin and Timișoara. It has been a good time every time and it has been a privilege to get to know people around Europe with dystonia. At the beginning of 2024 I started a new role as President of the Finnish Dystonia Association and it has been a busy year! Also, I have done my specialised studies during this year. Luckily there is only one year left with this study.
Mikko Juutinen, President Finnish Dystonia Association
From left: Mikko Juutinen from Finland, Vidar Bjørkli from Norway and Jukka Sillanpää from Finland
