4 Lifestyle Changes to Manage Tremors

Essential tremor is a disorder that causes uncontrolled shaking of body parts. It usually affects the hands and arms, but it can also affect the head, voice, and torso; it rarely affects the legs or feet. The condition isn’t dangerous, but if it becomes severe, it can disrupt everyday activities like eating, drinking, and getting dressed.

Tremor can also cause an emotional response, such as being embarrassed about the problem or anxious that other people will notice and be put off by it.

At Advanced Neurology Specialists, board-certified neurologist and epilepsy specialist Dr. Cory Lamar and his team see many patients with tremor at their Naples, Florida, office. While they treat many cases with medication or other therapies, lifestyle modifications can help as well. Here, the team discusses four lifestyle changes to help you manage your tremor.

Causes of tremor

Doctors don’t know exactly why essential tremor occurs or if specific triggers make the shaking happen. However, there’s evidence that people with tremor have certain changes in specific brain regions.

The one thing they do know is that this condition can run in families, and about half of all cases are inherited as an autosomal dominant condition. That means if one parent passes on a mutated gene for tremor to you, there’s about a 50% chance you’ll inherit the condition.

Symptoms of tremor

The key symptom of essential tremor is the shaking — mostly of your hands when you’re trying to use them. The circumstances in which tremors are likely include:

• Action tremor: happens during actions, such as reaching for an object
• Postural tremor: happens when you hold part of your body in a specific pose, such as an outstretched hand

The tremor almost always affects both sides of your body, unlike in a condition such as Parkinson’s disease where it’s one-sided, but it may affect one side more than the other. The tremor is worse when using the affected body part, and it lessens when you’re at rest.

If you have essential tremor, your handwriting may appear jerky because of the movement, but, unlike Parkinson’s, it doesn’t become unusually small.

The tremor itself isn't dangerous, but it produces difficulty accomplishing everyday activities as the condition worsens. Eventually, those with the condition may have trouble with eating with utensils, drinking from a glass, dressing themselves, and writing, among other things.

4 lifestyle changes to manage tremors

Although medication can help with managing or reducing essential tremor, there are lifestyle changes you can make that will help as well:

1. Avoid vigorous exercise
2. Avoid excess alcohol consumption
3. Avoid stimulants, including caffeine
4. Reduce stress

Bonus tip: Try to get enough good-quality sleep; most adults require 7-9 hours a night. Being chronically fatigued can increase the instances of tremors.

Are you looking for help managing essential tremor? Advanced Neurology Specialists, LLC can help. Call our office at 239-667-5878 to set up a consultation with Dr. Lamar, or book online with us today.