The nervous system is vulnerable to various disorders. It can be damaged by injuries, infections, degeneration, structural defects, and tumors, as well as disorders in the circulatory system.
Disorders of the nervous system, which may be helped by physical medicine and neurotrauma rehabilitation, may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- vascular disorders - stroke, transient ischemic attack (TIA), subarachnoid hemorrhage, subdural hemorrhage and hematoma, and extradural hemorrhage
- infections - meningitis, encephalitis, polio, and epidural abscess
- structural, trauma, or neuromuscular disorders - brain, head, or spinal cord injury, Bell's palsy, cervical spondylosis, carpal tunnel syndrome, brain or spinal cord tumors, peripheral neuropathy, muscular dystrophy, myasthenia gravis, and Guillain-Barré syndrome
- functional disorders - headache, seizure disorder, dizziness, and neuralgia
- degenerative disorders - Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Huntington's chorea, and Alzheimer's disease