Movement disorders can cause increased or decreased movement, depending on the condition. They affect voluntary movements, such as walking and swallowing, and involuntary movements, such as ticks. You can be assured that our neurology teams will work tirelessly to determine what’s causing a movement disorder and how to treat it.
Learn more about our comprehensive movement disorders program in Southeast Virginia.
Movement disorders encompass conditions in which the person can’t control movement because of interrupted nerve signals. Some movement disorders we treat include:
Ataxia – Loss of muscle coordination can result in clumsiness, instability, tremors or a lack of coordination while performing voluntary movements. Ataxia also can affect speech and movement of the eyes.
Dystonia – Involuntary contractions of muscles cause twisting and repetitive movements. The movements can be painful. Dystonia is a common symptom of cerebral palsy and several neurodegenerative conditions.
Huntington's disease – The inherited disease causes nerve cells in certain parts of the brain to waste away. Early symptoms of HD may include uncontrolled movements, clumsiness, and balance problems. Later, HD can take away the ability to walk, talk, and swallow.
Parkinson's disease – Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative disease, which means that it will get slowly worse over time. It causes tremors, slowness of movement and trouble walking.
Tics and Tourette syndrome – Tics are patterned, repetitive, nonrhythmic movements. They can be involuntary and uncontrollable movements (motor tics) or verbal ticks.
We use a team approach to diagnose and treat your condition so you benefit from our combined wisdom and experience. Your care team may include specialized neurologists, neuropsychologists, neurosurgeons, advanced care practitioners, music therapists and physical and occupational therapists.
Neurologists diagnose some conditions by looking at a battery of tests to come to a conclusion. A single test does not give definitive information about whether someone has Parkinson’s disease, for example. Physical and neurological exams, as well as blood work, imaging studies and genetic tests, will be evaluated.
Treatments vary by disorder. Often, however, for many movement disorders, a cure has not been found. In that case, the goal of treatment is to improve or slow symptoms and relieve pain.
Through the Sentara Health Research Center, our team participates in numerous clinical trials for promising new therapies. We work continuously to find treatments that may slow or even stop the progression of movement disorders.
Learn more about current clinical trials and our commitment to research.