How Can Essential Tremor Be Treated ? - Dr. Shivam Mittal

You will be put on medications like propranolol or primidone. Propranolol is a beta blocker
that is used to treat high blood pressure conditions, which is why you won't be suggested
to use this in case you are suffering from heart problems or asthma. Primidone is an antiseizure
drug that is generally used to treat epileptic seizures. Both these medications may
result in side-effects like nausea, fatigue, drowsiness, and lightheadedness; but they may
help reduce your tremor by about 50%! However, along with these medications, you will
be asked to stop caffeine, energy drinks, antidepressants, and inhalers, as these can only
lead to worsening the tremor. Other medications may include topiramate, gabapentin,
clonazepam, and zonisamide, depending upon your particular condition.
Therapy
You will need to undergo a therapy by an occupational therapist, which will help you adjust
to living with tremor. He would suggest you some changes to make life easier for you. For
example, he will ask you to wear wrist weight to stabilize your hands, wear clothes without
buttons to make them easy to put on and off and use eating utensils with larger handles. All
of these will help you live an easier and more comfortable life.
Injections
You may also be prescribed Botox – an injectable drug which has been a proven treatment
for a migraine, excessive sweating, and bladder dysfunction. And now, it has also proven to
be effective to treat hand tremor, head tremor, and voice tremor. Side effects of this
injection could be a weakness in the fingers or wrist, swallowing difficulties, or a raspy
voice.
Surgery
The last step towards solving the issue of essential tremor could be a surgery. When tremor
has crossed its line of being treated with drugs, a surgery is opted for. Two kinds of
surgeries can be used.
Deep Brain Stimulation – In this surgery, two electrodes are implanted into the thalamus
region of the brain, which is the main source of tremor. these electrodes are connected to a
neurostimulator installed in the chest, which sends electric impulses through the
electrodes to the brain to stop tremor. this procedure works on a battery, which needs to
be replaced every few years.
Focused Ultrasound – This is a non-invasive surgery where the thalamus of the brain is
detected and burnt off through focused ultrasound to kill the cells causing tremor.