More than any other aspect of stroke recovery, stroke survivors and therapists ask me about spasticity. Are there effective treatments? Can spasticity be eliminated? What do I do?
There are many treatments for spasticity, but all of them are Band-Aids. That is, they don't eliminate spasticity; they mask it or temper it. Treatments range from injections that temporarily "quiet" the offending muscles (i.e. Botox, phenol blocks) to drugs that usually work systemically (which means they hit all your muscles and usually have a global sedative effect). There are surgeries that snip a nerve rootlet here or a tendon there (these are permanent and nor reversible; they eliminate spastcicty, but also eliminate the potential for the muscle ever to come back.)
There is one answer, however. It is outlined in this article I wrote recently.
Trust me, I did not make up the headline.
No comments:
Post a Comment