Your brain, spinal cord, and nerves — your nervous system — controls your movement. Movement disorders are diseases in which you experience uncontrolled or unwanted physical movements. They’re caused by problems with your nervous system or the muscles it controls. Parkinson’s disease is the best-known movement disorder, but the term includes over a dozen conditions, including cerebral palsy, dystonia, epilepsy, spinal stenosis, and multiple sclerosis.
If you have symptoms including tremors, muscle weakness, muscle spasms, and trouble walking, Dignity Health Central California neurologists can help.
Find a Doctor for a clear diagnosis of a movement disorder at one of our area hospitals:
Movement disorders symptoms vary depending on disease. Most often, symptoms of movement disorders include:
Some movement disorders, such as Huntington’s disease, can be inherited from a parent through a gene mutation. Others appear for no known reason.
Movement disorders may be the result of autoimmune diseases, nervous system injury, infections, or even certain medications that may affect the nervous system. Changing medication or dosage usually reverses these symptoms.
Here’s what doctors know about a few of the most common movement disorders:
Treatments for movement disorders depend on the disease. Most focus on controlling muscle movements, slowing disease progression, and improving quality of life. Medication, physical therapy and occupational therapy can all help. Surgery may sometimes be necessary.
Dignity Health Central California doctors diagnose and treat movement disorders in Bakersfield, Merced, San Andreas, and Stockton, CA.