Movement Disorders Treatment

Living with a movement disorder is not only distressing, but can seriously impact your quality of life. That’s why BayCare Health System offers state-of-the-art diagnostic techniques and advanced therapeutic drug and surgical treatments for patients with movement disorders such as:

  • Parkinson’s disease: A progressive neurological disease that affects a small area of brain cells near the neck. It may cause muscle rigidity, tremors, bradykinesia (slowing of movements), changes in walking/posture, changes in speech/handwriting and loss of balance.

  • Essential tremor: The most common neurological movement disorder in the country affecting approximately 500,000 people

  • Dystonia: This movement disorder causes muscle contractions, twisting, repetitive motions and abnormal posture.

What is a Movement Disorder?

As a child, you may have enjoyed playing the Hokey Pokey, a musical game where you move your arms and legs to the verses of the song. Now think for a moment how it would feel to try and play the game without being able to move at will.

That’s how individuals with a movement disorder feel; the ability to voluntarily move their body is impaired. Oftentimes, arms and legs shake uncontrollably, muscles become rigid or feet and hands position themselves oddly. Sometimes, parts of the body jerk or twist involuntarily or move very slowly.

Diagnosing & Treating Movement Disorders

Diagnosing a movement order may be difficult because symptoms aren’t always readily apparent and could be common to other medical conditions. However, patients with suspected movement disorders can benefit from a multidisciplinary approach to diagnosing and treating their condition—an approach that includes a specially trained team. Each patient receives quality, individualized care with comprehensive evaluations and treatment plans.

BayCare takes pride in being one of the few facilities in the area to offer an innovative treatment called Deep Brain Stimulation. Using precise electrical impulses, this new surgical option can improve common movement disorder symptoms such as tremors, rigidity, slowness of movement and stiffness.

Support & Additional Information

Visit these organizations’ web sites to learn more about specific movement disorders and to find additional resources or support.

For more information or a physician referral, call (888) 906-8935.