Natural Remedies To Treat Myoclonus

Myoclonus is a condition in which patient experiences sudden, involuntary and brief muscle jerk. Some jerks are normal and do not require treatment while others may be the symptom of a serious condition.

Apart from various medications and surgical option available to the patient suffering from myoclonus, there are various natural remedies to manage the myoclonus. These include:

Exercise. Exercise helps in strengthening the muscles. Further, exercise also helps in thinking muscle twitch as a common problem occurring due to the muscular contraction and relaxation during exercise⁴. Further, exercise also helps reducing anxiety.

Massage. Massaging of muscles may help in alleviating the occurrence of myoclonus. Anxiety because of the underlying disease increases the frequency of myoclonus. Massage also helps your brain to calm down and provide you relief for anxiety^4.

Behavioral Changes. Reduced sleep increases the risk of epileptic seizures⁵. People with myoclonus due to seizures should take proper sleep and acid the circumstances that trigger epileptic symptoms.

Herbs. Some of the herbal medication reduces the symptoms of neurological disorders. A patient suffering from myoclonus due to neurological disease may get benefit from these medicines. The medicines include mugwort, hydrocotyle, peony, and valerian⁶. These medications should only be taken under the guidance of an appropriate healthcare professional.

Diet. Ketogenic diet is the diet of choice in patients suffering from seizures. This is the diet with a high amount of fat with a low amount of carbohydrates and proteins⁶. Similar to the ketogenic diet is an Atkins diet developed by Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Supplementation. Complimented with other factors in seizure and myoclonus control, various vitamins and minerals also play a role in reducing the frequency of seizures. These include Vitamin B6, Vitamin E and magnesium⁶.

Internet is a sea of information but information exists on the internet may many times misleading⁴. When you start searching for the cause of your symptoms, a lot of causes from very general disease to a serious condition are available. This increases anxiety which leads to worsening of the underlying condition.

Myoclonus is a symptom of the underlying disease. It is characterized by a sudden jerking of muscles. The jerking may be due to muscle contraction or muscle relaxation. If the myoclonus is caused due to muscle contraction, it is known as positive myoclonus and when it is caused due to muscle relaxation, the condition is termed is negative myoclonus¹. Some of the myoclonus condition occurs in everyday life and does not pose a problem. This includes hiccups due to the sudden jerk in the diaphragm or the sleep starts that may be felt during the starting of the sleep. However, certain myoclonus condition signifies a serious underlying disease related to the nervous system such as seizures. Other causes of myoclonus include brain injury, kidney failure, liver failure, and autoimmune disease, reaction to medications, metabolic diseases and infection.

Various diseases, specific to the nervous system, also cause myoclonus. These diseases include brain tumor, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Frontotemporal dementia, and Huntington’s disease².

The patient experiences a sudden, involuntary, brief and shock-like jerking of muscles. The diagnosis of the underlying disease is done through a variety of tests depending upon the physical evaluation of the patient. Blood tests are used to determine the presence of any metabolic disorders or autoimmune disease while the imaging techniques are used to evaluate various vital organs of the body including brain, kidney, and liver. Imaging techniques include magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalogram.

The activity of the muscles can also be evaluated through electromyography³.

Medications and surgery are the primary treatment options depending upon the cause of myoclonus.

Various medications and surgical options are available to treat the condition. There are some natural remedies that may also help in reducing myoclonus or the frequency of occurrence of an underlying medical condition such as epilepsy. These remedies include exercise, diet, massage, behavioral changes and vitamin, and mineral supplementation.

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Also Read:

• Myoclonus: Causes, Symptoms, Investigations, Treatment
• Alternative Treatment For Myoclonus
• Lifestyle Changes For Myoclonus
• Who Is At Risk For Myoclonus?
• Home Remedies For Myoclonus
• How Do I Know If I Have Myoclonus?
• What Is The Best Medicine For Myoclonus?