Bradykinesia and Rigidity

05/01/2010

Bradykinesia is a generalized slowness in movement. Akinesia refers to lack of movement seen especially with initiation or beginning a movement. You may notice this as a generalized slowness of all movements, difficulty starting movements and trouble with sequential or repetitive movements. Like your handwriting and speech, you may notice movements getting slower (or softer as is the case in speech) and trail off over time. This can lead to fatigue of movement and sense of muscle strength.

Rigidity is a stiffness with muscle movement. This stiffness is not due to joint problems as is seen in arthritis. Although muscle is normal, the nerve control of muscle movement leads to a resistance or loss of fluidity to everyday movement. Cogwheel rigidity refers to a ratchety feeling or cogwheel motion that is sometimes felt with by the examiner when examining rigidity of the arms or legs. The rigidity, like the bradykinesia, begins on one side of the body, is experienced first in the arms or legs and over years becomes more obvious in the neck, back and trunk muscles.

Small handwriting (micrographia)
and masked like face (loss of spontaneous facial expression) are unique problems of these symptoms.

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