Treatment
There are several treatments for spasmodic torticollis, the most commonly used being botulinum toxin injections in the dystonic muscle of the neck. Other treatments include sensory trick, oral medications, and deep brain stimulation. Combinations of these treatments have been used to control spasmodic torticollis. In addition, selective surgical denervation of nerves triggering muscle contractions may offer relief from spasms, pain, and limit damage to the spine as a result of torqued posture. Spinal fibrosis (i.e., locking of spinal facets due to muscular contortion resulting in fused vertebrates) may occur rapidly. Therefore, it is important to seriously evaluate the option of surgical denervation as early as possible.
This suggests that the desynchronization of the frequency range is movement related. A sensory trick, also known as a geste antagoniste, is a common characteristic present in focal dystonias, most prevalently in cervical dystonia, however it has also been found in patients with blepharospasm. Sensory tricks offer only temporary and often partial relief of spasmodic torticollis. 74% of patients report only partial relief of spasmodic torticollis compared to 26% of complete relief of torticollis. The sensory trick must also be applied by the patient themselves. When the sensory trick is applied by an examiner, only 32% of patients report relief comparable to relief during self-application.
Read more about this topic: Spasmodic Torticollis
Famous quotes containing the word treatment:
“I will use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment, but never with a view to injury and wrongdoing. Neither will I administer a poison to anybody when asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a course. Similarly, I will not give to a woman a pessary to cause abortion. I will keep pure and holy both my life and my art.”
—Hippocrates (c. 460–c. 370 B.C.)
“James’s great gift, of course, was his ability to tell a plot in shimmering detail with such delicacy of treatment and such fine aloofness—that is, reluctance to engage in any direct grappling with what, in the play or story, had actually “taken place”Mthat his listeners often did not, in the end, know what had, to put it in another way, “gone on.””
—James Thurber (1894–1961)
“[17th-century] Puritans were the first modern parents. Like many of us, they looked on their treatment of children as a test of their own self-control. Their goal was not to simply to ensure the child’s duty to the family, but to help him or her make personal, individual commitments. They were the first authors to state that children must obey God rather than parents, in case of a clear conflict.”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)