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.

1. DYSTONIA
Causes | Symptoms | Treatments

2. Introduction To Dystonia
Dystonia is a Neurological Movement Disorder that causes muscles to
contract and spasm involuntarily causing pain, tremors, twisting and
other uncontrollable movements. Dystonia can affect any part of the
body including the arms, legs, neck, eyelids, face or vocal cords.
Dystonia has no cure!

3. Causes of Dystonia
There aren't any specific, identifiable causes of this condition.
However, it is believed that this condition might be linked to damage
to the basal ganglia, which is the part of the brain that is responsible
for muscle contractions.

4. Symptoms of Dystonia
The symptoms depend upon the area of the body that is affected by
involuntary muscle cramp (muscle contraction).
 Eyelids. Rapid blinking or involuntary spasms causing your eyes
to close (blepharospasms) can make you functionally blind.
Spasms usually aren't painful, but might increase when you're in
bright light, under stress or interacting with people. Your eyes
might feel dry.
 Hand and forearm. Some types of dystonia occur only while you
do a repetitive activity, such as writing (writer's dystonia) or
playing a specific musical instrument (musician's dystonia).

5. Symptoms Continue…
 Voice box and vocal cords (spasmodic dystonia). You might have a
tight or whispering voice.
 Neck: This is also categorized in focal type. It is characterised by
intense spasms of the neck muscles. It is also called cervical
dystonia. Here the symptoms include twisting and trunking of the
head to one side so violently that it may cause tremendous pain.
Also, the head might move forward or backward involuntarily.

6. Symptoms Continue…
 Jaw or tongue (oromandibular dystonia). You might experience
slurred speech, drooling, and difficulty chewing or swallowing.
Oromandibular dystonia can be painful and often occurs in
combination with cervical dystonia or blepharospasms.
 Face: When the muscles of one side of the face suffer spasm, the
condition is referred to as hemifacial spasm. This is also classified
under the focal type. It seems to worsen under stress and fatigue.

7. Treatments of Dystonia
 A trial of low dose Levo Dopa (62.5mg-100mg) 2-3 times daily is
warranted
 High doses of Benzhexol (Artane) Start with 4-5mg/day and
increase to 80
 Tetrabenazine and Pimozide/Haloperidol
 Baclofen
 Clonazepam and Diazepam
 Botox
 Deep Brain stimulation

8. Diagnosis of Dystonia
To diagnose dystonia, your doctor will start with a medical history
and physical examination.
To determine if underlying conditions are causing your symptoms,
your doctor might recommend:
 Blood or urine tests. These tests can reveal signs of toxins or of
other conditions.
 MRI or CT scan. These imaging tests can identify abnormalities in
your brain, such as tumors, lesions or evidence of a stroke.
 Electromyography (EMG). This test measures the electrical activity
within muscles.

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