Surgery, such as the denervation of selected muscles, may also provide some relief; however, the destruction of nerves in the limbs or brain is not reversible and should be considered only in the most extreme cases. Recently, the procedure of deep brain stimulation (DBS) has proven successful in a number of cases of severe generalised dystonia. DBS as treatment for medication-refractory dystonia, on the other hand, may increase the risk of suicide in patients. However, reference data of patients without DBS therapy are lacking.

There is no cure for torsion dystonia. However, there are several medical approaches that can be taken in order to lessen the symptoms of the disease. The treatment must be patient specific, taking into consideration all of the previous and current health complications. The doctor that creates the treatment must have intimate knowledge of the patients’ health and create a treatment plan that covers all of the symptoms focusing on the most chronic areas.

The first step for most with the disorder begins with some form of physical therapy in order for the patient to gain more control over the affected areas. The therapy can help patients with their posture and gain control over the areas of their body that they have the most problems with.

The second step in the treatment process is medication. The medications focus on the chemicals released by neurotransmitters in the nervous system, which control muscle movement. The medications on the market today are anticholinergics, benzodiazepines, baclofen, dopaminergic agents/dopamine-depleting agents, and tetrabenazine. Each medication is started on a low dosage and gradually increased to higher doses as the disease progresses and the side effects are known for the individual.

A more site-specific treatment is the injection of botulinum toxin. It is injected directly into the muscle and works much the same way the oral medications do—by blocking neurotransmitters. The injections are not a treatment for the disease, but are a means to control its symptoms.

A fourth option in the treatment for the symptoms of torsion dystonia is surgery. Surgery is performed only if the patient does not respond to the oral medications or the injections. The type of surgery performed is specific to the type of dystonia that the patient has.

In some cases Meige's syndrome can be reversed when it is caused by medication. It has been theorized that it is related to cranio-mandibular orthopedic misalignment, a condition that has been shown to cause a number of other movement disorders (Parkinon's, tourettes, and torticollis). This theory is supported by the fact that the trigeminal nerve is sensory for blink reflex, and becomes hypertonic with craniomandibular dysfunction. Palliative treatments are available, such as botulinum toxin injections.

Response to treatment is variable and the long-term and functional outcome is unknown. To provide a basis for improving the understanding of the epidemiology, genotype/phenotype correlation and outcome of these diseases their impact on the quality of life of patients, and for evaluating diagnostic and therapeutic strategies a patient registry was established by the noncommercial International Working Group on Neurotransmitter Related Disorders (iNTD).

Different medications are tried in an effort to find a combination that is effective for a specific person. Not all people will respond well to the same medications. Medications that have had positive results in some include: diphenhydramine, benzatropine and atropine. anti-Parkinsons agents (such as ropinirole and bromocriptine), and muscle relaxants (such as diazepam).

- Anticholinergics

Medications such as anticholinergics (benztropine), which act as inhibitors of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, may provide some relief. In the case of an acute dystonic reaction, diphenhydramine is sometimes used (though this drug is well known as an antihistamine, in this context it is being used primarily for its anticholinergic role).. See also Procyclidine.

- Baclofen

A baclofen pump has been used to treat patients of all ages exhibiting muscle spasticity along with dystonia. The pump delivers baclofen via a catheter to the thecal space surrounding the spinal cord. The pump itself is placed in the abdomen. It can be refilled periodically by access through the skin. Baclofen can also be taken in tablet form

- Botulin toxin injection

Botulinum toxin injections into affected muscles have proved quite successful in providing some relief for around 3–6 months, depending on the kind of dystonia. Botox or Dysport injections have the advantage of ready availability (the same form is used for cosmetic surgery) and the effects are not permanent. There is a risk of temporary paralysis of the muscles being injected or the leaking of the toxin into adjacent muscle groups, causing weakness or paralysis in them. The injections have to be repeated, as the effects wear off and around 15% of recipients will develop immunity to the toxin. There is a Type A and a Type B toxin approved for treatment of dystonia; often, those that develop resistance to Type A may be able to use Type B.

- Muscle relaxants

Clonazepam, an anti-seizure medicine, is also sometimes prescribed. However, for most, their effects are limited and side-effects like mental confusion, sedation, mood swings, and short-term memory loss occur.

- Parkinsonian drugs

Dopamine agonists: One type of dystonia, dopamine-responsive dystonia, can be completely treated with regular doses of L-DOPA in a form such as Sinemet (carbidopa/levodopa). Although this does not remove the condition, it does alleviate the symptoms most of the time. (In contrast, dopamine antagonists can sometimes cause dystonia.)

Ketogenic Diet

A Ketogenic diet consisting of 70% fats (focusing on medium chain triglycerides and unsaturated fats), 20% protein and 10% carbohydrates (any sugar) has shown strong promise as a treatment for Dystonia.

To date, there is no single, universal treatment that has been found to cure myoclonus dystonia. However, there are several treatment methods that have been found to be effective for helping to reduce the symptoms associated with the syndrome.

Many children affected by alternating hemiplegia also suffer from epilepsy. Seizures may occur during an attack but more often occur between attacks. Anti-epilepsy drugs are given to prevent or lessen the seizures, but the drugs often don’t work and have severe side effects that require the patient to discontinue use. Flunarizine, which blocks calcium channels, is an antiepilepsy drugs used in 50% of patients, and has been shown to shorten the duration of attacks as well as reducing the severity of the attacks. While Flunarizine does not stop the attacks, it is most common drug prescribed to treat those suffering from alternating hemiplegia.

This condition is often treated with injections of botox, a commercially prepared form of botulinum toxin. Botox reduces the symptoms of the disorder but it is not a cure for dystonia. Since the root of the problem is neurological, doctors have explored sensorimotor retraining activities to enable the brain to "rewire" itself and eliminate dystonic movements. The work of several doctors such as Nancy Byl and Joaquin Farias has shown that sensorimotor retraining activities and proprioceptive stimulation can induce neuroplasticity, making it possible for patients to recover substantial function that was lost to focal dystonia.

Anticholinergics such as Artane can be prescribed for off-label use, as some sufferers have had success.

Bass guitarist and instructor Scott Devine said that he wears a glove while playing bass guitar because of the condition. He finds that the glove stops the involuntary finger movements. He says it works for him but does not suggest that it may work for everyone with the condition.

The most commonly used treatment for spasmodic torticollis is the use of botulinum toxin injection in the dystonic musculature. Botulinum toxin type A is most often used; it prevents the release of acetylcholine from the presynaptic axon of the motor end plate, paralyzing the dystonic muscle. By disabling the movement of the antagonist muscle, the agonist muscle is allowed to move freely. With botulinum toxin injections, patients experience relief from spasmodic torticollis for approximately 12 to 16 weeks. There are several type A preparations available worldwide; however Botox and Dysport are the only preparations approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for clinical use in the United States.

Some patients experience or develop immunoresistance to botulinum toxin type A and must use botulinum toxin type B. Approximately 4% to 17% of patients develop botulinum toxin type A antibodies. The only botulinum toxin type B accessible in the United States is Myobloc. Treatment using botulinum toxin type B is comparable to type A, with an increased frequency of the side effect dry mouth.

Common side effects include pain at the injection site (up to 28%), dysphagia due to the spread to adjacent muscles (11% to 40%), dry mouth (up to 33%), fatigue (up to 17%), and weakness of the injected or adjacent muscle (up to 56%). A Cochrane review published in 2016 reported moderate-quality evidence that a single Botulinum toxin-B treatment session could improve cervical dystonia symptoms by 10% to 20%, although with an increased risk of dry mouth and swallowing difficulties.

PED patients usually avoid prolonged, continuous exertion to prevent occurrence of attacks. Use of anticonvulsants such as benzodiazepines show little to no success in PED patients. A few cases have shown that patients were able to lessen their attacks with a high carbohydrate snack. A new approach to managing PED is the ketogenic diet, which alters the primary cerebral energy metabolism from glucose to ketone bodies. Reports have shown that the ketonic diet protects against seizures in epilepsy. In PED, it is probable that ketones will provide sufficient energy for the basal ganglia, which is normally deficient in patients with PED.

This condition is very rare, only affecting one in two million people. It is more common in females than in males. There are several hundred cases in the United States, 25 known cases in the United Kingdom, and less than that in Australia and New Zealand.

In the past, dopamine blocking agents have been used in the treatment of spasmodic torticollis. Treatment was based on the theory that there is an imbalance of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the basal ganglia. These drugs have fallen out of fashion due to various serious side effects: sedation, parkinsonism, and tardive dyskinesia.

Other oral medications can be used in low doses to treat early stages of spasmodic torticollis. Relief from spasmodic torticollis is higher in those patients who take anticholinergic agents when compared to other oral medications. Many have reported complete management with gabapentin alone or in combination with another drug such as clonazepam. 50% of patients who use anticholinergic agents report relief, 21% of patients report relief from clonazepam, 11% of patients report relief from baclofen, and 13% from other benzodiazepines.

Higher doses of these medications can be used for later stages of spasmodic torticollis; however, the frequency and severity of side effects associated with the medications are usually not tolerated. Side effects include dry mouth, cognitive disturbance, drowsiness, diplopia, glaucoma and urinary retention.

Sleep is also used as a management technique. An early indication of an episode is tiredness so medication such as melatonin or Buccal midazolam can be administered to induce sleep and avoid the episode.

Those suffering from alternating hemiplegia are often underweight and with the help of dietitians, a meal plan should be developed for times of attack when consumption of food may be difficult.

Many drugs used to treat myoclonus dystonia do not have a significant impact individually, but when combined, can work on different brain mechanisms to best alleviate symptoms. The method of treatment used depends on the severity of the symptoms presented in the individual, and whether the underlying cause of the syndrome is known.

Treatment for PKND is more difficult than other Paroxysmal Dyskinesias. The majority of patients experience some relief from low dosages of clonazepam, a muscle relaxant and anticonvulsant. Similar to PKD, avoidance of stress, excitement, and fatigue will lower the frequency of PNKD attacks. Many patients also avoid known methyglyoxal containing foods and beverages such as alcohol, coffee, tea, and chocolate.

The disease is more commonly found amongst Ashkenazi Jews. The occurrence of torsion dystonia in the Ashkenazi Jewish population as stated by the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health of Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, CT; "Reports dating to the beginning of this century describe Ashkenazi Jewish (AJ) families with multiple cases of ITD either in siblings (Schwalbe 1908; Bernstein 1912; Abrahamson 1920) or in parents and offspring (Wechsler and Brock 1922; Mankowsky and Czerny 1929; Regensberg 1930). The first comprehensive evaluation of the mode of inheritance of ITD in Jewish and non-Jewish families was described by Zeman and Dyken (1967), who concluded that the disorder was inherited as an autosomal dominant with incomplete penetrance in both populations. Although they concluded that the gene frequency was higher in the AJ population than in non-Jews, no difference in mode of inheritance or disease mechanism was construed."

Recent research indicates that the biomolecule taurine may be effective for hypertonia, perhaps through its benzodiazepine-like modulation of the inhibitory neurotransmitter GABA or the neuromuscular effects of increasing intracellular calcium levels.

Not all individuals with ET require treatment, but there are many treatment options depending on symptom severity. Caffeine and stress should be avoided, and good sleep is recommended.

When symptoms are sufficiently troublesome to warrant treatment, the first medication choices are beta blockers such as propranolol or alternately, nadolol and timolol. Atenolol and pindolol are not effective for tremor. The anti-epileptic primidone is also effective for ET.

Second-line or third-line medications can be added if the first-line medications do not control the tremor. Second-line medications are the anti-epileptics topiramate, gabapentin (as monotherapy) and levetiracetam, or benzodiazepines like alprazolam. Third-line medications are clozapine and mirtazapine.

Theophylline has been used by some practitioners to treat ET, even though it may also induce tremor. However, its use is debated due to conflicting data on its efficacy. There is some evidence that low doses may lead to improvement.

Ethanol has shown superior efficacy to that of benzodiazepines in small trials. It improves tremor in small doses and its effects are usually noticeable within 20 minutes for 3–5 hours, but occasionally appears a rebound tremor augmentation later.

When medications do not control the tremor or the person does not tolerate medication, botulinum toxin, deep brain stimulation or occupational therapy can be helpful. The electrodes for deep brain stimulation are usually placed in the "tremor center" of the brain, the ventral intermediate nucleus of the thalamus.

Additionally, MRI-guided high intensity focused ultrasound is a non-surgical treatment option for people with essential tremor who have not seen improvement with medication and refused or are not valid candidates for other techniques, such as deep brain stimulation. MRI-guided high intensity focused ultrasound does not achieve healing but can improve the quality of life. However, its safety, efficacy and long-term effects are not yet established. Temporary and permanent adverse side effects have been documented, and also the reappearance of tremors. Possible adverse events include gait difficulties, balance disturbances, paresthesias, headache, hemorrhage in the treated area (which requiries emergency treatment), tissue damage in other areas, skin burns with ulcerations, skin retraction, scars and blood clots. This procedure is contraindicated in pregnant women, persons who have a non-MRI compatible implanted metallic devices, allergy to MR contrast agents, cerebrovascular disease, abnormal bleeding, hemorrhage and/or blood clotting disorders, advanced kidney disease or on dialysis, heart conditions, severe hypertension, ethanol or substance abuse, among others. The US Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") approved Insightec’s Exablate Neuro system to treat essential tremor in 2016.

Before prescribing medication for these conditions which often resolve spontaneously, recommendations have pointed to improved skin hygiene, good hydration via fluids, good nutrition, and installation of padded bed rails with use of proper mattresses. Pharmacological treatments include the typical neuroleptic agents such as fluphenazine, pimozide, haloperidol and perphenazine which block dopamine receptors; these are the first line of treatment for hemiballismus. Quetiapine, sulpiride and olanzapine, the atypical neuroleptic agents, are less likely to yield drug-induced parkinsonism and tardive dyskinesia. Tetrabenazine works by depleting presynaptic dopamine and blocking postsynaptic dopamine receptors, while reserpine depletes the presynaptic catecholamine and serotonin stores; both of these drugs treat hemiballismus successfully but may cause depression, hypotension and parkinsonism. Sodium valproate and clonazepam have been successful in a limited number of cases. Stereotactic ventral intermediate thalamotomy and use of a thalamic stimulator have been shown to be effective in treating these conditions.

Although essential tremor is often mild, people with severe tremor have difficulty performing many of their routine activities of daily living. ET is generally progressive in most cases (sometimes rapidly, sometimes very slowly), and can be disabling in severe cases.

The medical treatment of essential tremor at the Movement Disorders Clinic at Baylor College of Medicine begins with minimizing stress and tremorgenic drugs along with recommending a restricted intake of beverages containing caffeine as a precaution, although caffeine has not been shown to significantly intensify the presentation of essential tremor. Alcohol amounting to a blood concentration of only 0.3% has been shown to reduce the amplitude of essential tremor in two-thirds of patients; for this reason it may be used as a prophylactic treatment before events during which one would be embarrassed by the tremor presenting itself. Using alcohol regularly and/or in excess to treat tremors is highly unadvisable, as there is a purported correlation between tremor and alcoholism. Alcohol is thought to stabilize neuronal membranes via potentiation of GABA receptor-mediated chloride influx. It has been demonstrated in essential tremor animal models that the food additive 1-octanol suppresses tremors induced by harmaline, and decreases the amplitude of essential tremor for about 90 minutes.

Two of the most valuable drug treatments for essential tremor are propranolol, a beta blocker, and primidone, an anticonvulsant. Propranolol is much more effective for hand tremor than head and voice tremor. Some beta-adrenergic blockers (beta blockers) are not lipid-soluble and therefore cannot cross the blood–brain barrier (propranolol being an exception), but can still act against tremors; this indicates that this drug’s mechanism of therapy may be influenced by peripheral beta-adrenergic receptors. Primidone’s mechanism of tremor prevention has been shown significantly in controlled clinical studies. The benzodiazepine drugs such as diazepam and barbiturates have been shown to reduce presentation of several types of tremor, including the essential variety. Controlled clinical trials of gabapentin yielded mixed results in efficacy against essential tremor while topiramate was shown to be effective in a larger double-blind controlled study, resulting in both lower Fahn-Tolosa-Marin tremor scale ratings and better function and disability as compared to placebo.

It has been shown in two double-blind controlled studies that injection of botulinum toxin into muscles used to produce oscillatory movements of essential tremors, such as forearm, wrist and finger flexors, may decrease the amplitude of hand tremor for approximately three months and that injections of the toxin may reduce essential tremor presenting in the head and voice. The toxin also may help tremor causing difficulty in writing, although properly adapted writing devices may be more efficient. Due to high incidence of side effects, use of botulinum toxin has only received a C level of support from the scientific community.

Deep brain stimulation toward the ventral intermediate nucleus of the thalamus and potentially the subthalamic nucleus and caudal zona incerta nucleus have been shown to reduce tremor in numerous studies. That toward the ventral intermediate nucleus of the thalamus has been shown to reduce contralateral and some ipsilateral tremor along with tremors of the cerebellar outflow, head, resting state and those related to hand tasks; however, the treatment has been shown to induce difficulty articulating thoughts (dysarthria), and loss of coordination and balance in long-term studies. Motor cortex stimulation is another option shown to be viable in numerous clinical trials.

Therapeutic interventions are best individualized to particular patients.

Basic principles of treatment for hypertonia are to avoid noxious stimuli and provide frequent range of motion exercise.

Treatment should be based on assessment by the relevant health professionals. For muscles with mild-to-moderate impairment, exercise should be the mainstay of management, and is likely to need to be prescribed by a physical therapist or other health professional skilled in neurological rehabilitation.

Muscles with severe impairment are likely to be more limited in their ability to exercise, and may require help to do this. They may require additional interventions, to manage the greater neurological impairment and also greater secondary complications. These interventions may include serial casting, flexibility exercise such as sustained positioning programs, and medical interventions.

Research has clearly shown that exercise is beneficial for impaired muscles, even though it was previously believed that strength exercise would "increase" muscle tone and impair muscle performance further. Also, in previous decades there has been a strong focus on other interventions for impaired muscles, particularly stretching and splinting, but the evidence does not support these as effective. One of the challenges for health professionals working with UMNS movement disorders is that the degree of muscle weakness makes developing an exercise programme difficult. For muscles that lack any volitional control, such as after complete spinal cord injury, exercise may be assisted, and may require equipment, such as using a standing frame to sustain a standing position. Often, muscles require specific stimulation to achieve small amounts of activity, which is most often achieved by weight-bearing (e.g. positioning and supporting a limb such that it supports body weight) or by stimulation to the muscle belly (such as electrical stimulation or vibration).

Medical interventions may include such medications as baclofen, diazepam, dantrolene, or clonazepam. Phenol injections or botulinum toxin injections into the muscle belly can be used to attempt to dampen the signals between nerve and muscle. The effectiveness of medications varies between individuals, and varies based on location of the upper motor neuron lesion (in the brain or the spinal cord). Medications are commonly used for movement disorders, but research has not shown functional benefit for some drugs. Some studies have shown that medications have been effective in decreasing spasticity, but that this has not been accompanied by functional benefits.

Meige's syndrome is a type of dystonia. It is also known as Brueghel's syndrome and oral facial dystonia. It is actually a combination of two forms of dystonia, blepharospasm and oromandibular dystonia (OMD).

When OMD is combined with blepharospasm, it may be referred to as Meige’s Syndrome named after Henri Meige, the French neurologist who first described the symptoms in detail in 1910. The symptoms usually begin between the ages of 30 and 70 years old and appear to be more common in women than in men (2:1 ratio). The combination of upper and lower dystonia is sometimes called cranial-cervical dystonia. The incidence is about one case in 20,000 people.

Medications remain the basis of therapy in many cases. Symptomatic drug therapy is available for several forms of tremor:

- Parkinsonian tremor drug treatment involves L-DOPA and/or dopamine-like drugs such as pergolide, bromocriptine and ropinirole; They can be dangerous, however, as they may cause symptoms such as tardive dyskinesia, akathisia, clonus, and in rare instances tardive (late developing) psychosis. Other drugs used to lessen parkinsonian tremor include amantadine and anticholinergic drugs like benztropine

- Essential tremor may be treated with beta blockers (such as propranolol and nadolol) or primidone, an anticonvulsant

- Cerebellar tremor symptoms may decrease with the application of alcohol (ethanol) or benzodiazepine medications, both of which carry some risk of dependence and/or addiction

- Rubral tremor patients may receive some relief using L-DOPA or anticholinergic drugs. Surgery may be helpful

- Dystonic tremor may respond to diazepam, anticholinergic drugs, and intramuscular injections of botulinum toxin. Botulinum toxin is also prescribed to treat voice and head tremors and several movement disorders

- Primary orthostatic tremor sometimes is treated with a combination of diazepam and primidone. Gabapentin provides relief in some cases

- Enhanced physiological tremor is usually reversible once the cause is corrected. If symptomatic treatment is needed, beta blockers can be used