What is spasticity and what causes it?
Introduction Spasticity is commonly experienced by individuals who have damage to their central nervous system such as spinal cord injury, stroke, closed head injury, cerebral palsy and MS. In a 2001 survey of the North American Research Consortium on MS (NARCOMS) registry, approximately 85 percent of people with MS reported experiencing some spasticity. Spasticity is generally defined as being “velocity dependent”, which means that when a quick stretch is applied to a muscle, the resistance is increased. What it generally means for people with MS-related spasticity is that they have an increased stiffness or tightness in their muscles, which often adversely affects movement. They may or may not experience other components of abnormal muscle tone, such as spasms. The biggest challenge with spasticity management is determining what the optimal level of muscle tone is for an individual. In some cases an increased muscle tone may assist with movement, but more commonly it negatively affec
