Spasticity Treatment

Good Shepherd offers spasticity treatment including the latest therapies to provide relief from muscle tightness and stiffness associated with chronic conditions such as cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, brain injury and stroke. This unique treatment strives to maximize function and decrease pain while managing the medical and psychosocial needs of patients and their families. The goal of this treatment is simple: to improve the quality of life for our patients.

What is Spasticity?

Spasticity is a condition that creates involuntary muscle spasms resulting from a disorder or injury to the central nervous system, which disrupts messages from the brain to muscle groups. These disruptions cause muscles to stay tight or contracted, often creating pain and disability that can make everyday activities difficult or impossible. At Good Shepherd, we use the latest spasticity treatments and technologies to form treatment plans that are individualized for each patient.

Spasticity Management Services Address Issues Related To:

• Muscle strength
• Movement control
• Range of motion
• Reflexes
• Coordination
• Endurance
• Muscle response to stretch
• Posture

Good Shepherd utilizes a team approach to evaluate and treat spasticity, which includes the expertise of physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians
who work in concert with physical and occupational therapists.

An initial evaluation will help Good Shepherd’s care team assess the degree and severity of spasticity and how it affects your function.

Customized Spasticity Treatment Programs

• Baclofen pump management services led by a specialized physician
• Non-invasive options, such as icing, bracing, splinting, casting and the use of other adaptive devices
• An exercise program designed by a therapist or an accredited exercise physiologist (AEP)
• Oral or injectable medications used to address pain, functional deficits or to reduce the signals between nerves and muscles
• Rehabilitation technology, which can provide passive or assisted movement
• Surgery (in severe cases)
• Alternate treatment options, including Botox or a Baclofen pump

Botox® Injections

Good Shepherd uses Botox® injections for those suffering from localized spasticity. Botox® injections block the transmission of electrical signals from nerves to the muscles that they control. Botox® provides relaxation to the affected muscle for up to three months. After the effect of the medication wears off, the injection can be repeated.