"Botox" is For Writer's Cramp Too

Filed in archive Studies , Treatment on December 29, 2006

The painful involuntary, spasmodic muscle contractions of the fingers, hand, or arm during writing and and other manual tasks is called writer's cramp.

And I suffer from this very condition. The above happens whenever I do something with my hands such as gripping anything (grocery bags, pipettes, etc) or when doing the laundry (if handwashing) and even when simply typing the keyboards.

According to a small study published ahead of print in the Journal of Neurology Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, the popular anti-wrinkle treatment - "Botox" - can also ease writer's cramp.

Of the 20 people given botox treatment, 14 (70%) said that their condition had significantly improved, and that they wished to continue treatment. Their improvement was confirmed using validated disability and pain scales.

After a year, half of the trial participants were still receiving botox injections, and were finding them helpful.

Side effects included mild and temporary muscle weakness and pain at the injection site. Symptom relief lasted from three to 18 months, with an average symptom free period of four and a half months.

There is no (yet) effective drug treatment for writer's cramp. Relaxation techniques, hypnosis, biofeedback, acupuncture, and 'writing re-education exercises' have all been tried to easen the condition but none brought sustained relief.

Both my hands suffer from writer's cramp. At first I thought it was just pregnancy related because I first experienced this when I was pregnant and (still) working in a research lab. I do not take any pill, I just go to our local reflexologist from time to time for relief.

Botox! Wonders never cease but they never come cheap.

Source: Science Daily