A condition where you can’t control shaking in your arms, hands, head, voice or other body parts.
Movement Disorder Care
Movement disorders can affect your balance, coordination and ability to control your body. UW Medicine offers advanced care for these conditions.
Movement Disorder Care
Movement disorders can affect your balance, coordination and ability to control your body. UW Medicine offers advanced care for these conditions.
Why choose UW Medicine
As one of the nation’s largest movement disorder clinics, we are unique. When you come to us for care, you have access to a multidisciplinary team of specialists, Centers of Excellence for multiple movement disorders and clinical trials alongside leading-edge treatments.
Movement disorders like Parkinson’s disease or essential tremor can cause symptoms that impact your daily activities. At UW Medicine, our expert care team can help manage those signs, boost your independence and improve your quality of life. The specialists have training to handle the full range of simple-to-complex movement conditions. Together, we offer advanced diagnostic services and various clinical and surgical treatments. As your healthcare partner, we will deliver the complete care you need. Our goal is to help you maintain as much control over your movements as possible.
Large, experienced team
UW Medicine has the largest movement disorder team in the area, including fellowship-trained movement disorder neurologists and neurosurgeons.
Surgical and nonsurgical treatments
Our specialists have the training to handle the full range of simple-to-complex movement conditions. Together, we offer advanced diagnostic services and various clinical and surgical treatments, including Deep Brain Stimulation.
Center of Excellence
UW Medicine is a Center of Excellence for multiple movement disorders, including ataxia, hereditary spastic paraparesis and Huntington’s disease.
Schedule your appointment with a referral from your doctor.
Patient story
DBS surgery offers movement control and a new outlook for artist
Charles Burt always wanted to be an artist. A diagnosis of both PTSD and Parkinson’s Disease made controlling the brush against the canvas while painting difficult. Dr. Benjamin Gannan and the team of experts at UW Medicine’s Neurosciences Institute performed deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery to help stabilize Charles’ movements and eliminate his tremors. Now, Charles can paint and create with full control. “The frustration is gone,” he says. “The possibilities are endless.”
Movement disorder treatments we offer
Currently, no cures exist for movement disorders. Our researchers are working hard to find those answers. But, in the meantime, we can take steps to help manage your symptoms and improve your quality of life.
Nonsurgical treatment options
In most cases, nonsurgical treatments are the first step in movement disorder management. Our most common therapies include:
- Botulinum toxin injections
- Medication management
- Physical, occupational and speech therapy
- Neuropsychology
Surgical treatment options
In some cases, you may not respond to medication. Or your prescription may become less effective over time. If this happens, we may suggest a neurosurgical procedure to reduce your symptoms. We recommend surgery most often for Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor. These procedures include:
- Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS): Our neurosurgeons complete roughly 100 DBS procedures every year. This surgery treats involuntary tremors and muscle contractions by delivering a precise electrical current to a small, targeted area of your brain. The Food & Drug Administration approved DBS to treat Parkinson’s, essential tremor and dystonia. At UW Medicine, we also use this procedure to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and other types of tremor.
- Gamma Knife® radiosurgery (lesioning therapy): This minimally invasive procedure uses focused radiation to burn small areas of the brain. It disrupts the signals that lead to tremors and other uncontrollable movements.
- Radiofrequency ablation: This minimally invasive procedure uses heat to target and destroy unhealthy nerves, tissues and tumors.
Deep Brain Stimulation
The symptoms of disease, such as slowness of movement, stiffness or tremor, are caused by abnormal communication between nerve cells. Deep Brain Stimulation will silence this abnormal communication and restore function that is closer to normal.
Watch our video on DBS surgery. (Duration: 6:49 minutes)
Essential tremor
Essential tremor
Parkinson’s disease
Parkinson’s disease
This brain disorder triggers movements that you can’t control. It can affect your balance and coordination. It also leads to cognitive decline.
We also provide care for
Cerebellar ataxia
Damage to your cerebellum, the part of your brain that controls voluntary movement, causes this condition. Your muscle control gets worse. And you can also develop balance, eye movement, speech, swallowing and walking problems.
Corticobasal degeneration
This rare condition slowly worsens your ability to move, remember, speak and swallow.
Dystonia
This condition causes involuntary muscle contractions that lead to abnormal posture, repeated movements and twisting. Some examples include blepharospasm, cervical dystonia and writer’s cramp.
Hereditary spastic paraparesis
This group of genetic disorders leads to stiffness and weakness in your legs. The symptoms get worse over time.
Huntington’s disease
This genetic condition causes uncontrollable, unsteady movements in your face, feet and hands. The movements continue to worsen with time.
Lewy body dementia
This second most common type of dementia occurs when protein collects in the nerve cells in your brain. These protein deposits can affect your memory, movement and thinking.
Multiple system atrophy (MSA)
This rare condition causes your brain function to deteriorate. It can lead to Parkinson’s-like symptoms or problems with your coordination (ataxia).
Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP)
This rare condition damages the parts of your brain that control how you move your eyes, swallow, think and walk.
Tardive dyskinesia
This disorder comes from taking medications that treat symptoms of psychosis. It causes involuntary facial tics and movements.
Tourette syndrome
This disorder that affects your brain and nerves causes sudden movements and tics.
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UW Medical Center - Montlake
UW Medical Center - Montlake
Neurology Clinic
1959 NE Pacific St., 8th Floor
Seattle, WA 98195
Neurology Clinic directions and additional info »
Neurological Surgery Clinic
1959 NE Pacific St., 3rd Floor
Seattle, WA 98195
Neurological Surgery Clinic directions and additional info »
Harborview Medical Center
Harborview Medical Center
Neurological Surgery Clinic
908 Jefferson St., 5th Floor
Seattle, WA 98104
HMC Neurological Surgery Clinic directions and additional info »
OUR TEAM
Largest team in the region
Our team includes fellowship-trained neurosurgeons, movement disorder specialist neurologists, neuropsychologists, imaging technologists, advanced practitioners, nurses and therapists.