Dystonia Disorder

5 March, 2011 No Comment

Dystonias are neurological movement disorders in which involuntary muscle contractions can causes abnormal twisting and repetitive movement of certain body parts which forces abnormal postures or movements.

Dystonia which are sometimes painful can affect any part of body like arms, legs, trunk, neck, eyelid, face or sometimes entire body. It is caused due to muscle contractions which interfere with normal functions.

Symptoms

The involuntary muscle contraction can cause distorted posture or affect appearance. It starts with any single region like foot, face or hand during a specific action. For example, a person can experience contraction while walking or running, especially when the person is stressed.

Sometimes both eyes start blinking rapidly and make the person functionally blind. In cervical Dystonia, the neck may pull or turn involuntarily when a person is exhausted or stressed. Initially the symptoms are very mild and can be noticed when the person is under stress or fatigue. The symptoms may become noticeable after a long period. If the symptoms are severe, it may affect the performance of many day-to-day tasks.

Causes

The exact cause of dystonia is not yet known, but few factors may be responsible for this disorder. Alerted communications between brain and nerve cells initiates muscle contraction. Genetic changes are also believed to be cause of many forms of dystonia. Many diseases, brain injury, carbon monoxide or heavy metal poisoning, reaction to particular drug, and stroke can initiate dystonia.

Dystonia is broadly divided into two categories – generalized and focal. If symptoms occur during young age, it could be hereditary and eventually affect the whole body. (generalized) but in most of the cases dystonia occur at adult age and affect any particular body part like face or neck or arm (focal).

Treatment

Medication may help in improving the symptoms of dystonia, but result is inconsistent. In some complicated and severe cases when medications do not work, surgery is used to remove certain nerves that control the contraction. Botox injection is given to the patient in many cases. Certain medications are also prescribed by the doctor at early onset to improve muscle movement.

Sensory trick is often used to reduce contraction. This can be done by touching an adjacent body part. For Example, you have muscle contraction on neck. Touching the face, back or chin may reduce contraction. This trick is often applied as remedy.

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