Are you experiencing the signs and symptoms of spasticity?
It can take many forms. These are some of the most common:
Don’t wait to talk to your doctor.
Your condition could worsen over time, so see your doctor as soon as you start having symptoms.
Signs & Symptoms
What causes spasticity?
Spasticity can occur when the nerve cells that carry messages from your brain to different parts of your body are damaged. When this happens, the affected muscles in your limbs may receive the wrong signals. This can cause your muscles to contract or tense up, leading to stiffness and tightness.
Spasticity can occur because of different medical conditions or events that can damage nerve cells, including:
- A stroke
- A serious injury to the brain or spinal cord
- Diseases like cerebral palsy or multiple sclerosis
Developing spasticity can be a turning point in your life, because the extreme stiffness can be painful. It can also interfere with movement and your ability to perform simple tasks.
Be sure to tell your doctor about any and all symptoms you’ve been having, including:
- Muscle stiffness
- Pain
- Difficulty doing activities you were able to do before
If you think you might have adult spasticity, it’s important to identify it and discuss treating it with your doctor right away. Together, you and your healthcare team can create a plan that’s right for you.
In the United States, it is estimated that over 2.4 million adults experience some form of limb spasticity related to various medical conditions, including:
Stroke—1,495,000
Cerebral palsy—649,400
Multiple sclerosis—268,000
Causes of spasticity
Management of Spasticity
Treatment With Dysport®
- Dysport is injected into affected muscles to help lessen your symptoms.
- Dysport is a type of medicine that is injected directly into affected arm or leg muscles by a specialist. It helps to temporarily block signals from the brain that tell the affected muscles to contract or tighten, usually for months at a time.
- Response to treatment may be different for each patient, so be sure to talk to your doctor regularly during treatment.
- Talk to your doctor about your condition and whether Dysport may be an option.
Doctor Discussion Guide
This guide will help you think through your treatment goals and, with your doctor’s help, decide if Dysport may be right for you or your loved one.
How Dysport worked in clinical trials
For adults with upper limb spasticity, approximately 3 out of 4 patients had a response to treatment at week 4 as measured by a reduction in stiffness in the elbow, wrist, or finger muscles
- For most patients, improvement was seen 1 week after treatment
For adults with lower limb spasticity, nearly half of patients had a response to treatment at week 4 as measured by a reduction in muscle stiffness at the ankle joint:
- For most patients, improvement was seen 1 week after treatment
In these clinical studies, a majority of patients needed treatment again between 12 and 16 weeks.
The next Dysport treatment should not be given sooner than 12 weeks after the last Dysport treatment session. Your doctor will assess your spasticity at each treatment session and may adjust the dose and muscles injected.
Managing Spasticity
Learn more about Adult Spasticity
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
What is the most important safety information I should know about Dysport?
Dysport may cause serious side effects, including problems breathing or swallowing and/or spread of toxin effects, that can be life threatening and death can happen as a complication. These problems can happen within hours, or days to weeks after an injection of Dysport.
- Problems swallowing, breathing, or speaking. Treatment with Dysport can result in swallowing or breathing problems. People with pre-existing swallowing or breathing problems may be at greater risk following treatment with Dysport. Swallowing problems may last for several weeks; you may need a feeding tube to receive food or water. If swallowing problems are severe, food or liquids may go into your lungs.
- Spread of toxin effects. The effects of botulinum toxin may affect areas of the body away from the injection site and cause symptoms of a serious condition called botulism which include: loss of strength and muscle weakness all over the body, double or blurred vision, and drooping eyelids, hoarseness or change or loss of voice, trouble saying words clearly, loss of bladder control, and trouble breathing or swallowing. The risk of these symptoms is probably greatest in children treated for spasticity. These problems could make it unsafe for you to drive a car, operate machinery, or do other dangerous activities.
Call your doctor or get medical help right away if you experience these problems after treatment with Dysport.
Do not receive a Dysport injection if: you are allergic to Dysport or any of its ingredients, or cow’s milk protein; you had an allergic reaction to any other botulinum toxin product, such as Myobloc®, Botox®, or Xeomin®; or you have a skin infection at the planned injection site.
Before you receive a Dysport injection tell your doctor:
- About all your medical conditions, including if you have a disease that affects your muscles and nerves (such as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease [amyotrophic lateral sclerosis], myasthenia gravis, or Lambert-Eaton syndrome). You may be at increased risk of serious side effects, including difficulty swallowing or breathing.
- If you have or have had any of the following: a side effect from any botulinum toxin in the past; problems with breathing such as asthma or emphysema; swallowing; bleeding; diabetes; and slow heartbeat, or problems with your heart rate or rhythm.
- If you have plans to have surgery, had surgery on your face, have weakness of your forehead muscles (trouble raising your eyebrows), drooping eyelids, or any other change in the way your face normally looks.
- If you are pregnant or breastfeeding or plan to become pregnant or breastfeed. It is not known if Dysport can harm your unborn baby or if it passes into breast milk.
- About all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal products. Using Dysport with certain other medicines may cause serious side effects. Do not start any new medicines until you have told your doctor that you have received Dysport in the past.
Especially tell your doctor if you have received any other injections of botulinum toxin in the last four months or ever; Myobloc®, Botox®, or Xeomin® (exactly which ones); an antibiotic recently by injection; or if you take muscle relaxants; allergy, cold or sleep medicine.
Most Common Side effects of Dysport in:
- adults with lower limb spasticity include: fall, muscle weakness, pain in your arms or legs.
- adults with upper limb spasticity include: muscle weakness.
- children (2 to 17 years of age) with upper limb spasticity include: upper respiratory infection and sore throat.
- children (2 to 17 years of age) with lower limb spasticity include: upper respiratory infection, stuffy or runny nose and sore throat, cough, and fever.
- adults with cervical dystonia include: muscle weakness, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, injection site discomfort, tiredness, headache, muscle pain, problems speaking, injection site pain and eye problems.
Tell your doctor if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away. These are not all the possible side effects of Dysport. For more information, ask your doctor or pharmacist. You may report side effects to the FDA at www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.
What is Dysport?
Dysport is a prescription medicine that is injected into muscles and used to treat:
- increased muscle stiffness in patients 2 years of age and older with upper and lower limb spasticity
- cervical dystonia (CD) in adults
Please see full Prescribing Information including Medication Guide with Important Warning.
Botox, Xeomin, and Myobloc are registered trademarks of their respective owners.