What is spasticity in the legs?

What is spasticity in the legs?

Spasticity is a condition in which muscles stiffen or tighten, preventing normal fluid movement. The muscles remain contracted and resist being stretched, thus affecting movement, speech and gait.

How do you explain spasticity?

What is spasticity? Spasticity is abnormal muscle tightness due to prolonged muscle contraction. It is a symptom associated with damage to the brain, spinal cord or motor nerves, and is seen in individuals with neurological conditions, such as: Cerebral palsy (CP)

How do you measure spasticity?

The most well-known and commonly used scale is Ashworth scale (AS) (Table 3). This scale grades the muscle tone from 0 (normal) to 4 (severe spasticity). The usage of this scale is easy; however, the results depend on the evaluator.

What is the difference between muscle spasm and spasticity?

Spasticity is a symptom of multiple sclerosis that causes your muscles to feel stiff, heavy and difficult to move. A spasm is a sudden stiffening of a muscle which may cause a limb to kick out or jerk towards your body.

What is difference between spasticity and rigidity?

Whereas spasticity arises as a result of damage to the corticoreticulospinal (pyramidal) tracts, rigidity is caused by dysfunction of extrapyramidal pathways, most commonly the basal ganglia, but also as a result of lesions of the mesencephalon and spinal cord.

What is a clonus?

Clonus is involuntary and rhythmic muscle contractions caused by a permanent lesion in descending motor neurons. Clonus may be found at the ankle, patella, triceps surae, wrist, jaw, biceps brachii.

What is the difference between clonus and spasticity?

Spasticity and clonus result from an upper motor neuron lesion that disinhibits the tendon stretch reflex; however, they are differentiated in the fact that spasticity results in a velocity dependent tightness of muscle whereas clonus results in uncontrollable jerks of the muscle.

What is the difference between paresis and Plegia?

Paresis is a reduction in muscle strength with a limited range of voluntary movement. Paralysis (-plegia) is a complete inability to perform any movement.

What is Tardieu scale?

Tardieu is a scale for measuring spasticity that takes into account resistance to passive movement at both slow and fast speed. The scale originally began development in the 1950s and has gone through multiple revisions (reviewed in Haugh and Pandyan, 2006).

Why does spasticity get worse at night?

Spasticity is one of the most common MS symptoms, and often feels worse at night. This is because it can be aggravated by reduced movement, tight muscles and pain from other symptoms.

What kind of doctor treats spasticity?

Physiatrists and rehabilitation specialists at the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation deliver specialized forms of treatment in order for you to regain function and control of your affected limb or limbs and reduce symptoms of spasticity.

What causes Cogwheeling?

Cogwheel phenomenon, also known as cogwheel rigidity or cogwheeling, is a type of rigidity seen in people with Parkinson’s disease. It’s often an early symptom of Parkinson’s, and it can be used to make a diagnosis.