What causes dystonia?

What causes dystonia?

What causes dystonia?

Some causes of acquired dystonia include birth injury (including hypoxia, a lack of oxygen to the brain, and neonatal brain hemorrhage), certain infections, reactions to certain drugs, heavy metal or carbon monoxide poisoning, trauma, or stroke.

What is an example of dystonia?

Task-specific dystonias include writer’s cramp — which affects the arm and wrist — musician’s cramp, typist’s cramp, and golfer’s cramp. These types can cause painful cramps in specific parts of the body and only occur while doing that activity.

What happens dystonia?

Dystonia is a movement disorder in which a person’s muscles contract uncontrollably. The contraction causes the affected body part to twist involuntarily, resulting in repetitive movements or abnormal postures. Dystonia can affect one muscle, a muscle group, or the entire body.

How can I improve my dystonia?

Dystonia has no cure, but you can do a number of things to minimize its effects:

  1. Sensory tricks to reduce spasms. Touching certain parts of your body may cause spasms to stop temporarily.
  2. Heat or cold. Applying heat or cold can help ease muscle pain.
  3. Stress management.

What is the medical dictionary definition of dystonia?

n. Abnormal tonicity of muscle, characterized by prolonged, repetitive muscle contractions that may cause twisting or jerking movements of the body or a body part. The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2007, 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

What are some of the side effects of dystonia?

Depending on the type of dystonia, complications can include: Physical disabilities that affect your performance of daily activities or specific tasks. Difficulty with vision that affects your eyelids. Difficulty with jaw movement, swallowing or speech.

What kind of medications do you take for dystonias?

These medications include the benzodiazepines such as diazepam, lorazepam, clonazepam, and baclofen. Drowsiness is their common side effect. Dopaminergic agents act on the dopamine system and the neurotransmitter dopamine, which helps control muscle movement.

When to see a doctor for dystonia symptoms?

Early signs of dystonia often are mild, occasional and linked to a specific activity. See your doctor if you’re experiencing involuntary muscle contractions. The exact cause of dystonia isn’t known. But it might involve altered nerve-cell communication in several regions of the brain.