Managing Spasticity

Spasticity is a painful condition where certain groups of muscles continuously contract causing stiffness and sometimes severe pain. It can interfere with any number of everyday activities including walking, speech, and basic movements in general.  Spasticity often occurs with other serious illnesses or injury such as:

• Stroke 
• Spinal cord injury 
• Brain injury 
• Multiple sclerosis 
• Cerebral palsy
• Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS) 

Why spasticity occurs 

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the degree of spasticity can vary from mild stiffness to severe and often painful and uncontrollable muscle spasms. Our team approach  helps patients with this painful condition by providing the following interventions as needed:

• Medication management
• Pain management 
• Intrathecal Baclofen
• Botox injection
• Inhibitors
• Custom orthotics and splinting
• Bed and chair positioning techniques
• Therapy programs for range of motion, stretching, inhibition and preventing shrinking of the muscles
• Working on other methods of performing daily living tasks so the patient can maintain independence

Our hospital also works with patients and their family to educate them on how they can best cope with the condition.