Dystonia Management

Dystonia is a neurological movement disorder that causes involuntary muscle contractions, leading to abnormal movements or sustained, sometimes painful, postures. These muscle contractions can affect one part of the body or multiple areas and may interfere with daily activities such as writing, walking, speaking, or working. Symptoms can vary in severity and may come and go.

Types of Dystonia

• Cervical dystonia: Neck muscles contract, causing the head to twist or tilt
• Blepharospasm: Involuntary blinking or eye closure
• Writer’s cramp: Hand tightens when writing
• Oromandibular dystonia: Jaw, tongue, or mouth spasms

To diagnose Parkinson's disease, doctors rely on clinical signs and symptoms as there are no specific laboratory tests available for it. Routine scans like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) scans may not show any significant findings related to Parkinson's disease. Doctors look for the presence of at least two of the three main symptoms, including resting tremors, rigidity or stiffness, and bradykinesia or slowness of movement, to diagnose Parkinson's disease.