Tremor

What is tremor?

Tremor is uncontrollable shaking or trembling in the hands and other parts of the body. There are several kinds, including:

• Essential tremor
• Dystonic tremor
• Cerebellar tremor
• Parkinsonian tremor
• Functional tremor
• Orthostatic tremor
• Enhanced physiologic tremor

While tremor isn’t life-threatening, it causes significant challenges with everyday tasks like eating, dressing, and writing, and may become disabling.

Are there different types of tremor?

Rest tremors happen when you aren’t moving, while action tremors occur when you consciously move your muscles. Types of action tremor include:

Postural tremor

Postural tremor affects you when you adopt a position defying gravity, like holding your arms outstretched.

Kinetic tremor

Kinetic tremor accompanies voluntary actions like opening and closing your eyes or moving your hands up and down.

Intention tremor

Intention tremors kick in when you want to do something specific, like touching a finger to your nose.

Task-specific tremor

Task-specific tremor affects goal-oriented activities like speaking and writing.

Isometric tremor

Isometric tremor affects muscles that aren’t in motion but are performing a function, such as holding a book still.

What causes tremor?

Tremor is often a symptom of neurological conditions like Parkinson’s disease, stroke, and multiple sclerosis. Other possible causes of tremor include:

• Certain asthma medications
• Corticosteroids
• Chemotherapy drugs
• Certain psychiatric and neurological medications
• Heavy metals like lead and mercury
• Organic solvent or pesticide exposure
• Excessive caffeine
• An overactive thyroid
• Liver or kidney failure
• Diabetes
• Stress and anxiety
• Fatigue

At Advanced Neurology Specialists, LLC, Dr. Lamar performs physical and neurological exams to diagnose tremor, testing your reflexes, balance, speech, and muscle tone/strength. He checks to see if the tremor occurs when your muscles are resting or active, where the tremor occurs, how often you experience tremor, and how severe your tremor is.

Dr. Lamar might also order lab tests and recommend that you undergo diagnostic imaging procedures, electromyography (EMG), and nerve conduction velocity (NCV) tests. Treating underlying health conditions can reduce or even cure tremor, so an accurate diagnosis is vital.

How is tremor treated?

Several options are available to treat tremor, including:

• Physical, speech, and occupational therapy
• Lifestyle modifications
• Beta-blocking drugs
• Certain anti-seizure medications
• Tranquilizers (benzodiazepines)
• Dopaminergic medications for Parkinsonian tremors
• Anticholinergic medications for dystonic tremors
• Botulinum toxin (Botox®) injections for dystonic head and hand tremor
• Deep brain stimulation (DBS)
• Radiofrequency ablation
• Focused ultrasound

Sometimes, tremor is mild and doesn’t require treatment.

Call Advanced Neurology Specialists, LLC, to learn more about tremor treatment or request a consultation online today.