What is Spasticity?

What Are Spasticity and Dystonia?

Spasticity is a condition in which the body produces an exaggerated muscle response to stretching a muscle and can result in tight and stiff muscles. Spasticity can vary from mild muscle tightness to rigid non-movable muscles. It can affect any muscle in the body but commonly affects the legs, arms, and trunk. Spasticity can interfere with function by making movement harder and sometimes can cause joint pain. The amount of spasticity a patient has can change over time, especially with growth.

Dystonia is a similar muscle condition to spasticity, but it involves fluctuating muscle contractions often triggered by motion, excitement, or stress. Dystonia often co-occurs with spasticity and is also caused by brain and spinal cord neurological differences. Dystonia and spasticity are treated similarly. Hypertonicity or high muscle tone/increased tone is another term we frequently use to describe both dystonia and spasticity, where muscles involuntarily contract more than normal.

Many conditions can result in spasticity and dystonia, such as the following:

  • Brain injury
  • Cerebral palsy
  • Lennox-Gastaut syndrome
  • Rett syndrome
  • Spinal cord injury
  • Stroke
  • Brain/spinal cord tumors or infections

What causes spasticity?

Spasticity is caused by damage to the nerve pathways that send messages from the brain to the spinal cord telling muscles to relax. Because the signals from the brain are blocked or misfiring, they can’t get messages to the arms, legs, or other parts of the body, so the muscles do not relax.

  • Feedback from the brain telling the arms or legs to relax is blocked, so the muscles stay tight (also known as contracted).
  • Muscles in a constant state of exertion use a lot of energy. Therefore, side effects of spasticity may be muscle weakness and weight loss.

Though there is no cure for spasticity, many options are available to help manage its symptoms and improve your child’s quality of life.

Experts at our comprehensive Spasticity Program combine their specialized perspectives to come up with a life plan that is tailored to your child’s specific needs.