Spasticity Should Be Prioritized

My name is Dr Nick Ketchum.

I’m a physiatrist, also known as a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist. 

The thing is, Spasticity should be prioritized.

Spasticity is a disorder that occurs after injury to the brain or spinal cord. 

This results in an arm that’s weak, but also has muscles that are overactive, and it doesn’t allow somebody to extend their elbow or open their hands. 

The thing is, Spasticity can be treated.

So, I met this patient on our rehabilitation unit shortly after his stroke. 

One thing that he loved was, you know, using his hands, he did a lot of woodworking.

And after his stroke, he had a weakness of the whole right side of his body, his arm in particular.

And he went from doing everything on his own to really needing help with even the most basic things.

We talked about treatment for Spasticity and he really didn’t think that was something he wanted to do.

He thought that time was going to be helpful.

When I examined him, he was having much more Spasticity than we saw in the hospital. So he said, 'You know, I think I want to try BOTOX®.' So we treated him with BOTOX® and sent him back to therapy.

It was really, I think, a great thing that he decided that Spasticity was something that he wanted to treat.

He’s seen what the BOTOX® can do for his Spasticity. 

And so, we've really got him on his way and he's reaching goals.

Whenever Spasticity starts to become present, that's the time to ideally treat it. Definitely go talk to a specialist and see how your Spasticity can be treated. 

No goal is too small to work on.

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