{"id":2510,"date":"2020-06-05T10:09:37","date_gmt":"2020-06-05T10:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/screening.mhanational.org\/article\/i-cant-stop-moving-my-face-or-body\/"},"modified":"2023-04-21T18:30:54","modified_gmt":"2023-04-21T22:30:54","slug":"i-cant-stop-moving-my-face-or-body","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/screening.mhanational.org\/es\/content\/i-cant-stop-moving-my-face-or-body\/","title":{"rendered":"No puedo dejar de mover la cara o el cuerpo."},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s uncomfortable to feel out of control, especially of your own body. Many people experience uncontrollable movements of one kind or another: maybe you can\u2019t stop making faces, or your hands keep shaking. Uncontrollable movements like this come with a lot of emotions\u2014it\u2019s frustrating to not be able to control yourself. You might feel embarrassed when other people see it. If it started suddenly, or recently became worse, you might feel anxious about what\u2019s going to happen next. Will it ever go away? Will it get worse?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s okay to be frustrated, scared, embarrassed, or any other emotion. You don\u2019t need to panic\u2014but it\u2019s a good idea to take involuntary movements seriously. There are a lot of different reasons why this might be happening, and what you can do about it depends on the cause.<\/p>\n

Finding the cause<\/h2>\n

Figuring out exactly what\u2019s going on can be tough. There are lots of different reasons why people develop uncontrollable movements.<\/p>\n

It could be a nervous tic you developed, or it could be a sign of any of dozens of movement disorders<\/strong> based in the brain. You\u2019ve probably heard of a few, like Parkinson\u2019s Disease. But a lot of them have obscure names that you\u2019ve probably never heard of. You can try to do some research online, but you may have a very hard time narrowing down exactly what\u2019s going on. It\u2019s best to see a health care provider\u2014and the sooner the better.<\/p>\n

But who should you see? If you already see a doctor, you can start there. Your regular family doctor might not have the most advanced knowledge about movement disorders, but they can refer you to a specialist. (Some health insurance plans won\u2019t let you see a specialist without a referral from a primary care doctor anyway.) That specialist is most likely going to be a neurologist<\/strong>\u2014someone who treats conditions related to the brain.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s another challenge though: visits to the doctor\u2019s office are usually pretty short\u2014about 15 minutes or so. Many people with movement disorders can hide their symptoms for longer than that. You might unconsciously hide your symptoms from your doctor. Or, your symptoms might be situational\u2014maybe you only do them in certain places, or when you\u2019re very tired, etc. This can make it hard for the doctor to figure out what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, sometimes people have a hard time getting health care professionals to take their symptoms seriously in a situation like this. If possible, try to bring someone along with you who has seen your movements and can help you describe them to the doctor. Better yet: try to record your movements on video, so you can show the doctor what the movements look like.<\/p>\n

Uncontrollable movements and mental health<\/h2>\n

Sometimes uncontrollable movements can be related to mental health disorders:<\/p>\n