This case describes the successful addition of acupuncture to treat a patient with cervical dystonia previously managed with Botox (botulinum toxin) injections. This resulted in reduced pain and muscle spasm relief and to the authors' knowledge is the first case to be reported using this treatment combination. The patient was diagnosed with the idiopathic variant of cervical dystonia and had be...

Dystonias represent a group of heterogeneous neurological conditions characterized by sustained simultaneous co-contraction of agonist and antagonist muscles in one or more sites of the body. The resultant repetitive movements and abnormal postures can affect gait and execution of voluntary movements. The pathophysiological mechanisms of dystonia remain to be fully elucidated. Not long ago, dys...

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is used to treat a variety of severe medically intractable movement disorders, including Parkinson's disease, tremor and dystonia. There have been few studies examining the effect of chronic DBS on the brains of Parkinson's disease patients. Most of these post mortem studies concluded that chronic DBS caused mild gliosis around the lead track and did not damage brai...