Neurological disorders are conditions that affect the nervous system — including the brain, spinal cord, and the nerves that connect them.

There are a wide variety of neurological disorders, including:

• Acute spinal cord injury (sudden injuries)
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
• Ataxia (loss of muscle control in your arms and legs)
• Bell’s palsy (facial muscle weakness or paralysis)
• Brain tumors
• Cerebral aneurysm
• Epilepsy and seizures
• Guillain-Barre syndrome (an immune system disease that affects your arms and legs)
• Headache
• Head injury
• Herniated disc or lumbar disc disease
• Meningitis (swelling of the membranes that surround your brain)
• Multiple sclerosis (MS)
• Muscular dystrophy (an inherited disorder that causes muscle breakdown)
• Neurocutaneous syndromes (diseases that can cause brain, spinal cord, organ, skin, and bone tumors)
• Parkinson’s disease
• Stroke

Symptoms vary greatly from disorder to disorder, but can include:

• Decreased alertness
• Difficulty reading and writing
• Muscle weakness
• Partial or complete loss of sensation (feeling)
• Partial or complete paralysis (inability to move your body)
• Poor cognitive (thinking) abilities
• Seizures
• Unexplained pain

Tests

Laboratory Tests
Your doctor uses lab tests to confirm if you have a neurological condition, including blood and urine studies, and thyroid function tests.

Muscle or Nerve Biopsy
In this procedure, your doctor takes a sample of tissues (either using a minimally invasive procedure or a needle) that will be examined under a microscope.

Spinal Tap (Lumbar Puncture)
In this test, your doctor inserts a needle into your spinal canal (the area around your spinal cord) to get a sample of your cerebral spinal fluid, which surrounds your brain and spine. The fluid is sent to the lab to test for an infection or other problems. A lumbar puncture also allows your doctor to measure the pressure in your spinal fluid.

X-ray
This test uses electromagnetic energy beams to create pictures of your internal tissues, bones, and organs.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
An MRI scan uses a combination of large magnets, radio waves, and a computer to produce detailed images of your organs and other structures inside your body.

Electrodiagnostic tests
These studies allow your doctor to evaluate your muscles and nerves that control them (motor neurons) by measuring electrical activity.

• Electromyography (EMG) is one such test in which a technician inserts electrodes into your muscle, and a specialized computer records electrical activity and muscle response.
• Nerve conduction velocity (NCV), another test, involves a technician placing electrodes on the skin overlying a muscle or muscle group, and a specialized computer recording electrical activity and muscle response.

Treatments

Therapy
For most people with neurological disorders, the primary treatment is to manage your symptoms. Your doctor may include physical, occupational, speech, respiratory, and nutrition therapies as part of your treatment.

Medications
Your doctor may prescribe medicines to help relieve any muscle cramping related to your condition.

Heat or Whirlpool Therapy
Your doctor may recommend heat or whirlpool therapy to help relieve muscle cramps.

Exercise
Exercise, although recommended in moderation, may help maintain your muscle strength and function.

Surgery
If other treatments have been unsuccessful, your specialist may recommend surgery to treat your neurological disorder. Surgery may be to help correct the condition, or at least provide some relief from the pain and other symptoms you’re experiencing.

Why Choose UHealth?

World-class care in an academic health center. As a research and teaching institution, we treat children and adults with proven, leading-edge procedures based on clinical studies performed at the Miller School of Medicine. Our doctors, residents, nurses, and therapists work together to improve health care.

Relief and comfort for chronic pain conditions. Due to our renowned expertise, we receive referrals for patients from all over the world. Our doctors are dedicated to providing best practice pain management services and a customized treatment plan to each patient through the most comprehensive pain interventions offered in South Florida.