Movement Disorders Program

If you or a loved one experience unwanted movements such as trembling, clenching, twitching or weakness, discover possible causes and effective treatment options to improve your life when you visit with the movement disorders specialists at OU Health in Oklahoma City.

Multidisciplinary Care for Movement Disorders

Choose OU Health to treat movement disorders like Parkinson’s disease or essential tremor. You’ll work with a multidisciplinary team that holds advanced training in brain-related medical specialties, including neurology and neurosurgery, as well as subspecialty training in movement disorders. No matter your age, you benefit from a comprehensive evaluation of your symptoms and a treatment plan tailored to meet your individual needs.

Movement-Related Symptoms & Conditions

Rely on the expertise of fellowship-trained physicians at OU Health to deliver top-quality care for movement-related symptoms and conditions, including:

• Parkinson’s disease — Causes symptoms such as trembling of arms, jaw, legs and face; stiffness; slowed movement; problems with balance and coordination; slowly worsens over time
• Essential tremor — Causes hands, head, torso, voice or legs to shake rhythmically; may affect one or both sides of body; often confused with Parkinson’s disease; most common trembling disorder
• Dystonia — Affects the way your body moves; causes muscles to contract, move involuntarily or become stuck in abnormal positions

Movement Disorders Treatments & Services

Take advantage of the latest innovative treatments for movement disorders close to home. Some options, such as focused ultrasound, you’ll find offered only at OU Health — the first health system in Oklahoma to provide this advanced treatment.

• Focused ultrasound – Minimally invasive, incisionless, outpatient treatment for essential tremor; combines high-resolution visualization and real-time temperature monitoring with safely targeted sound waves from outside the body to precisely remove (ablate) deep brain tissue that affects symptoms; FDA-approved to treat essential tremor on both sides of body

Because focused ultrasound does not require surgical anesthesia, you remain awake and able to provide immediate feedback on tremor improvement. You will likely return home the same day and experience immediate and lasting improvement.

• Deep brain stimulation (DBS) – Surgical treatment for several types of movement disorders, including essential tremor and Parkinson’s disease; requires expertise of both neurosurgeons and neurologists

In this procedure, your neurosurgeon implants electrodes at targeted brain areas that control movement; electrodes connect through extension wires to a battery pack under the skin below your collarbone. After surgery, you’ll work with your neurologist, who programs the device and adjusts points of stimulation to best control your symptoms.

Your Expert Movement Disorders Team

Your OU Health movement disorders team involves highly trained neurologists and neurosurgeons with specialty education in functional and epilepsy surgery and significant experience in treating movement disorders. They collaborate with a variety of other medical specialists, as needed, to create your individualized treatment plan. You and your caring, compassionate team members work together to ensure you receive the most effective services available for your specific situation, so you can get back to the life you love.