What is Dystonia?
Dystonia is a movement disorder that causes involuntary muscle contraction and spasms.
Symptoms of Dystonia
Muscles contract at the wrong time causing a tug of war type feeling in the muscles that control voluntary movement. This causes twisting, cramping, tremor and pain of the affected body part. Dystonia can start in childhood or adulthood. Childhood dystonia usually affects the feet and legs first and can eventually spread to other areas of the body (generalized dystonia). Adult dystonia usually affects the face, neck, and arms, and usually remains confined to a single area (focal dystonia).
What Causes Dystonia?
We don’t completely understand what causes dystonia. In children the cause is often genetic. In adults a combination of genetic and environmental factors are thought to be involved in the development of dystonia. Dystonia can be a symptom in other diseases, for example, foot dystonia can be an early symptom of Parkinson’s disease. Dystonia that is caused by an injury to the body or brain is called Secondary Dystonia.
Types of Focal Dystonia
Blepharospasm: involuntary spasm of the eyelids. Blepharospasm can be associated with bright lights or fatigue. Dry eye is a common initial complaint. Symptoms can progress from excessive blinking to difficulty keeping the eyes open to forced closure of the eyelids.
Cervical dystonia: involuntary contraction of neck muscles, which can cause twisting, tilting, and tremor. Aching and pain of neck muscles is also common. Cervical Dystonia usually affects people over age 40 and women are more commonly affected than men.
Writer’s cramp: involuntary spasm of fingers, hand, and wrist. Symptoms usually occur only when writing. This is a “task-specific dystonia.” Other tasks associated with dystonia include musician’s dystonia and golfer’s “yips.”
Treatment Options for Dystonia
Treatment includes oral medications and botulinum toxin injection. If oral medications are not effective for focal dystonia or side effects are not tolerated, botulinum toxin injection is the next step if symptoms of dystonia are interfering with your normal routine. Botulinum toxin, when injected into a dystonic muscle, causes an interruption in contraction of the injected muscle that relieves spasm and pain. The effects of botulinum toxin are temporary and typically wear off after about three months. Oral medications typically prescribed include clonazepam (Klonopin), baclofen (Lioresal), and trihexyphenidyl (Artane). Brain surgery called Deep Brain Stimulation is a treatment for severe dystonia that reached the limits of medications.
If you would like more information about Evergreen's treatment options for Dystonia or other movement disorders, please call 425.899.3123.
For More Information
The Dystonia Society
Dystonia Medical Research Foundation
We Move - Dystonia
National Institute of Neurological Disorders