Spasticity is one of the symptoms of neurological diseases.... This disease causes certain muscles to contract suddenly. The severity of this condition is different for each person and it affects movement and speech....There are many treatment methods including physiotherapy, drug therapy and injection for treatment, and the doctor prescribes the appropriate method depending on the patient's needs. What is meant by spasticity?.. Spasticity is a disorder in the muscle movement pattern that causes certain muscles to contract suddenly while moving or even while standing. Muscles remain contracted in this state and resist being stretched....In these cases, movement is impaired and your speech and walking are affected. The feeling of tightness in the muscles can be so severe that it leads to painful spasms or severe stiffness in your limbs. What are the symptoms? Spasticity can cause such symptoms: - increasing muscle tone (hypertonia) - Feeling pain - Muscle spasm (rapid and involuntary contraction) - joint, muscle or bone abnormalities - Clonus (including rapid involuntary muscle contractions that may resemble a tremor, usually felt in the ankles) - Difficulty performing daily activities such as bathing or dressing - Sleep disturbance due to painful spasm or muscle cramps Muscle movements are controlled by a complex system that allows some muscles to contract while others relax. Damage to the nerves in the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) disrupts this pattern... As a result, some muscles may contract all at once, making it difficult to perform voluntary movements. What is the difference between spasticity and muscle stiffness? Both spasticity and muscle stiffness are known as hypertonicity (abnormally high muscle tone) but they are different from each other. Muscle stiffness is usually associated with damage to the basal ganglia and Parkinson's disease.... The basis of this situation is related to the structures related to the thalamus at the base of the brain, which play a role in coordination. Stiffness, unlike spasticity, affects all the muscles around the joint equally....With spasticity, faster movement results in more involuntary contraction of the affected muscles. Possible side effects Symptoms of this disease can be different for each person.. In severe cases, this condition can lead to disruption in daily functioning and severe pain. Also, a person suffering from this disease has difficulty in performing daily and personal activities.... Such conditions can increase possible problems such as bed sores and cause infection and sepsis. If left untreated, moderate to severe spasticity causes such complications: - Chronic constipation - Urinary tract infections (UTIs) - contractions (immobilized joint) - bone fracture - Partial or complete loss of joints Inspection of possible reasons Spasticity usually occurs following damage to the nerve pathways in the brain or spinal cord that control movement and stretching... As a result, such conditions may occur for the following reasons: - spinal cord injury - Multiple Sclerosis (MS) - stroke - cerebral palsy - Brain or head injury - Adrenolecodystrophy (ALD) - hereditary spastic paraplegia - phenylketonuria Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease) - Karabe's disease How is spasticity treated? There are several treatment options to solve this problem... Usually, people who suffer from this disease are treated with several treatment strategies.... Although this disease has no cure... but by considering different treatment solutions, it can help a lot to reduce the symptoms and improve the quality of life. Usually, a team of doctors must work together to control the disease... Non-surgical treatments can include the following: ### Physiotherapy During this treatment, stretching, strengthening and movement exercises are performed. ### occupational therapy Typically, the therapist focuses on stretching, strengthening and upper extremity exercises for daily activities such as bathing, cooking, etc. ### Speech therapy If you have spasticity that affects the muscles of your face, mouth, and throat, speech therapy can be very helpful. ### Using braces Using a brace for the injured area helps improve the patient's range of motion and leads to ease of movement. ### Using assistive devices There are many assistive devices that can greatly help people with spasms to move and perform daily activities better. In addition to the things we have mentioned for you, usually the doctor also prescribes oral medications for you.. Usually the medications prescribed for spasticity are effective. But it can cause side effects such as weakness and drowsiness. ### Spasm treatment with botox It should be done by an injection by a specialist doctor so that the injection is done exactly in the required areas to finally lead to the relaxation of the spastic muscles. It usually takes 7 to 10 days to have significant effects and the results usually last up to three months... The doctor tries to improve the patient with non-surgical methods, if non-surgical solutions are not effective, finally surgery is considered suitable for the patient.