Neuromuscular disorders & diseases

Neuromuscular disorders affect nerves or muscles. Many conditions fall into this category, and they have different causes, symptoms and treatments. Whether you have spasms, muscle weakness, or chronic muscle or nerve pain, we use the latest diagnostic methods to pinpoint your neuromuscular disorder. We’ll work with you to find precise treatment and improve your quality of life.

Types of neuromuscular disorders

Some of the neuromuscular conditions we treat are:

• Dysautonomia: Affects the autonomic nervous system (nerves that operate without conscious control).
• Dystonia: Affects different body parts with involuntary muscle movements.
• Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS): Immune system condition that affects peripheral nerves.
• Isaacs syndrome: Also known as neuromyotonia. May be partly inherited and partly acquired. Affects peripheral nerves.
• Leukodystrophy: A rare, neurological disorder that affects the function of the central nervous system, which includes your brain and spinal cord.
• Lou Gehrig’s disease: Also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Affects brain and spinal cord.
• Multiple sclerosis (MS): Immune system condition that affects the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves.
• Myasthenia gravis (MG): Autoimmune disease that affects voluntary muscles.
• Myoclonus: A quick, jerking motion that you can’t control.
• Myopathy: Group of disorders. Affects voluntary muscle movements.
• Parsonage-Turner syndrome (PTS): Affects peripheral nervous system and causes severe pain in the shoulder and arm. Also known as neuralgic amyotrophy (NA).
• Peripheral neuropathy: Group of disorders. Affects the brain and spinal cord.
• Postherpetic neuralgia: Nerve pain that lingers after having had shingles.

Symptoms of neuromuscular conditions

Neuromuscular disorder symptoms are different for different disorders because they have different causes and affect different parts of the body. In general, some of the effects on nerves or muscles include:

• Stiffness
• Weakness
• Numbness or tingling
• Spasms
• Radiating or burning pain
• Uncontrollable movements (dyskinesia)

Diagnosing neuromuscular conditions

To diagnose neuromuscular diseases, your primary care doctor may refer you to a neurology specialist. They’ll perform a physical exam, ask about your neuromuscular disorder symptoms and test your muscle strength. They may order a variety of testing for neuromuscular diseases, including electromyography (EMG), ultrasound, MRI, genetic tests, or a biopsy of affected muscles or nerves.