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What is writer's Cramp?
What is the pathophysiology of writer's Cramp?
What causes a simple writer's Cramp?
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Reactive arthritis is a type of arthritis that occurs because of an infection. Arthritis is when joints become inflamed and painful. Reactive arthritis is not contagious. It affects men more often than women. It develops most often between ages 20 and 50.
Apr 24, 2007 · The syndrome is the combination of inflammatory arthritis (mainly one or two large lower extremity joints- knees or ankles), conjunctivitis and urethritis (inflammation of the tube that passes urine).
Writer's cramp or focal hand dystonia (FHD) is an idiopathic movement disorder of adult onset, characterized by abnormal posturing and movement of the hand and/or forearm during tasks requiring skilled hand use, such as writing.
- Overview
- Are there different types?
- What symptoms can it cause?
- What causes this condition and who’s at risk?
- How is this condition diagnosed?
- What treatment options are available?
- Are complications possible?
- What’s the outlook?
What is writer’s cramp?
Writer’s cramp is a specific type of focal dystonia that affects your fingers, hand, or forearm. Focal dystonia of the hands is a neurologic movement disorder. The brain sends incorrect information to the muscles, causing involuntary, excessive muscle contractions. These signals can make your hands twist into odd postures.
Writer’s cramp is known as a task-specific dystonia. It happens almost only when you perform a particular activity. Other highly skilled movements can incite focal hand dystonia — things like playing a musical instrument, typing, or sewing.
Other terms used to describe writer’s cramp or similar problems include:
•musician’s cramp
•focal hand dystonia
There are two basic types of writer’s cramp: simple and dystonic.
Simple writer’s cramp involves difficulty with only writing. The abnormal postures and involuntary movements begin soon after you pick up a pen. It only affects your ability to write.
Sometimes holding a pen or pencil too tightly can cause the muscles in your fingers or forearms to spasm after you’ve been writing for a long time in one sitting. This would be a painful overuse problem. But writer’s cramp is more likely to cause trouble with coordination.
Common symptoms of writer’s cramp include:
•fingers gripping the pen or pencil very hard
•wrists flexing
•fingers extending during writing, making it difficult to hold the pen
•wrists and elbows moving into unusual positions
Focal dystonia is a problem with how your brain talks to the muscles in your hand and arm. Experts think that repetitive hand movements result in remapping of certain parts of the brain.
Simple writer’s cramp is associated with overuse, poor writing posture, or holding the pen or pencil improperly. However, symptoms begin after holding the writing tool for just a few moments, not after hours.
Although stress doesn’t cause hand dystonia, it can aggravate symptoms. Stressors — like test-taking — can make your writer’s cramp worse. But worrying about and focusing on the cramping can also make it worse.
Dystonic writer’s cramp is less common than simple writer’s cramp and may occur as part of generalized dystonia that affects several parts of the body. In this case, the involuntary movements can occur when you’re doing other non-writing tasks, such as using a knife and fork.
If you think you may have focal dystonia, start by visiting your doctor. They may refer you to a neurologist. Your doctor will ask you a series of questions and perform a physical and neurologic exam.
They’ll be looking for the following:
•specific triggers of dystonia
•which muscles are involved
•characteristics of the spasms and postures
•which body parts are affected
There’s no simple, one-size-fits-all approach to treating writer’s cramp. And there’s no cure. You may need to try a variety of therapies, and probably will have to combine a couple of them.
A typical treatment plan may include:
•Physical and occupational therapy. Learning how to hold your pen differently, using fatter pens or grips, using special-made splints, and changing your paper or arm position can all help writer’s cramp.
•Botulinum neurotoxin (Botox) injections. Botox injections into selected muscles can help ease writer’s cramp, especially when the wrist or fingers move into unusual postures.
•Oral medications. Anticholinergic drugs, such as trihexyphenidyl (Artane) and benztropine (Cogentin), help some people.
•Relaxation and distraction. Relieve stress-induced cramping through relaxation techniques like deep breathing and visualization, or through distractions like writing with both hands at the same time.
For some people, the cramping and unusual movements in the hands may also include muscles around the elbow and shoulder. You may develop a tremor or shaking that accompanies the cramping. You may develop a second dystonia, like of the eyelids or vocal chords. Symptoms can also begin to affect the other hand.
About half of people with simple writer’s cramp will end up progressing to having dystonic writer’s cramp. Other hand-related activities like eating or brushing your teeth may also be affected.
Although there’s no cure for writer’s cramp, treatments can lessen symptoms and perhaps prevent simple writer’s cramp from affecting other activities or your other hand. A combination of physical, mental, and drug therapy can help you retain your ability to write — so you can keep handwriting letters to your friends and family.
Jan 25, 2022 · Overview. Symptoms. When to see a doctor. Causes. Risk factors. Prevention. Overview. Reactive arthritis is joint pain and swelling triggered by an infection in another part of the body — most often the intestines, genitals or urinary tract. This condition usually targets the knees, ankles and feet.
Dec 9, 2022 · Writer’s cramp is a rare neurological movement disorder that usually affects people in the 30-50 age group. It is a task-specific, focal dystonia, which means that it occurs while doing a specific task (such as writing) and impacts only a particular part of the body and the muscles around it.
Aug 8, 2017 · Writer’s cramp (WC) is a task-specific focal dystonia which manifests itself as abnormal postures interfering with motor performance.
