A Few Upper and Lower Dystonia Types
Blepharo means "eyelid". Spasm means "uncontrolled muscle contraction". The term blepharospasm can be applied to any abnormal blinking or eyelid tic or twitch resulting from any cause, ranging from dry eyes to Tourette's syndrome to tardive dyskinesia. The blepharospasm referred to here is officially called benign essential blepharospasm (BEB) to distinguish it from the less serious secondary blinking disorders. "Benign" indicates the condition is not life threatening, and "essential" is a medical term meaning "of unknown cause". It is both a cranial and a focal dystonia. Cranial refers to the head and focal indicates confinement to one part. The word dystonia describes abnormal involuntary sustained muscle contractions and spasms. Patients with blepharospasm have normal eyes. The visual disturbance is due solely to the forced closure of the eyelids.
Oromandibular dystonia (OMD) is a form of focal dystonia that affects varying areas of the head and neck including the lower face, jaw, tongue and larynx. The spasms may cause the mouth to pull open, shut tight, or move repetitively. Speech and swallowing may be distorted. It is often associated with dystonia of the cervical muscles (Spasmodic Torticollis), eyelids (Blepharospasm), or larynx (Spasmodic Dysphonia).
In patients with OMD, involuntary contractions may involve the muscles used for chewing (masticatory muscles). These may include the thick muscle in the cheek that closes the jaw (masseter muscle) and the broad muscle that draws back the lower jaw and closes the mouth (temporalis muscle). Some patients may also experience involuntary contractions of the wide muscle at the side of the neck (platysmal muscle). This muscle draws down the corner of the mouth and lower lip or other muscle groups.
Read more about this topic: Meige's Syndrome
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