Torticollis and serendipity.
Spasmodic torticollis is often a severely disabling disorder which can be extremely resistant to any form of treatment including newer methods employing electromyographic biofeedback. This case study describes the diagnostic and treatment methods utilized with a 63-year-old woman with a 6-month history of spasmodic torticollis. Several treatment approaches were attempted, including biofeedback, relaxation training, and a combination fading desensitization approach. All corrective measures were unsuccessful until serendipitous circumstances suggested a treatment employing both a particular movement pattern that relieved the problem in the total behavior chain associated with spasmodic torticollis.
D001007:Anxiety; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009128:Muscle Spasticity / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D009334:Neck Muscles / Q000503:physiopathology; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications; D014103:Torticollis / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*