Jul 24, 2026
Written by Alicia Racelis, PhD, Keri Wiginton
Medically Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD on November 06, 2025
What Is Tardive Dyskinesia?
Tardive dyskinesia (TD) is an involuntary movement condition, meaning you can't control your movements. "Tardive" means late, and "dyskinesia" means uncontrolled movements.
It's often a side effect of medication that blocks dopamine. That's a brain chemical that helps your nerves and body function.
“Tardive dyskinesia is really an umbrella term for a number of involuntary movements that affect the face, mouth, trunk, or other muscles in the body,” says Aderonke Pederson, MD, assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. “Sometimes it can be very subtle when it starts.”
Because TD can take months or even years to appear, it’s sometimes hard to diagnose. When it does, you may have stiff or jerky movements in your face or body. You might blink often, stick out your tongue, or move your arms or legs without meaning to.
TD is most often linked to certain antipsychotic or antiemetic medicines. Antipsychotics treat mental health conditions such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. Antiemetics prevent nausea and vomiting.
Not everyone who takes these medications will get tardive dyskinesia. But if it happens, TD can sometimes last even after stopping the drug. That’s why it’s important to tell your doctor right away if you notice new or uncontrollable movements after starting a drug or changing the dose.
Your doctor can help find out what’s causing the movements and adjust your treatment safely. They may lower your dose, switch you to another medication, or add a drug to help manage TD symptoms.
“The hope is always to catch those side effects and address them early because we have alternative options to medications," Pederson says.
Tardive Dyskinesia Symptoms
Tardive dyskinesia can be different for everyone. It's a complex health condition causing stiff, uncontrolled, repeated movement. TD can affect the muscles in your face (orofacial dyskinesia) or your arms and legs (dyskinesia of the limbs).
Orofacial dyskinesia or oro-bucco-lingual dyskinesia. These are uncontrolled movements in your face — namely your lips, jaw, or tongue.
The muscles in your face might cause you to:
- Stick out your tongue without trying
- Blink your eyes fast or twitch
- Chew, smack, or pucker your lips
- Puff out your cheeks
- Frown
- Grunt
Dyskinesia of the limbs. It can affect your arms, legs, fingers, and toes. TD can cause your muscles to:
- Wiggle your fingers, sometimes called "piano-playing"
- Tap your feet
- Flap your arms
- Cross your legs repeatedly
- Shrug your shoulders
- Twist or stretch your neck
- Thrust out your pelvis
- Sway from side to side
These movements can be fast or slow. You may find it hard to work and stay active.
Jul 23, 2026
Medically reviewed by Brenda B. Spriggs, M.D., MPH, FACP — Written by Yvette Brazier — Updated on July 15, 2025
Key takeaways
- Parkinson’s disease can start with subtle symptoms like sleep disturbances, loss of smell, slight tremor, small handwriting, difficulty moving, constipation, reduced facial expression, or a soft voice.
- The primary motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease involve slow movement, tremor, muscle stiffness, and impaired balance, typically starting on one side of the body.
- Beyond motor skills, Parkinson’s can also cause changes to the autonomic nervous system, leading to issues like constipation, urinary problems, and blood pressure fluctuations, as well as affecting emotions, thinking, and senses.
The symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD) usually begin gradually, and they affect each person differently. The symptoms a person has will vary widely, regardless of how severe they are or how quickly they develop.
Read on to find out more about the different types of symptoms and how to recognize the early symptoms of PD.
The symptoms of PD affect individuals differently, but some can be an early sign of the disease.
These are:
- REM sleep disorder and other sleep problems
- the loss of the sense of smell
- tremor, especially in one hand
- a smaller size of handwriting
- difficulty moving or walking or a stooping gait
- constipation
- loss of facial expression, that may make the person look emotionless
- a low or soft voice
The four main signs and symptoms include:
- slow physical movements, known as bradykinesia
- shaking, or tremor
- muscle stiffness, or rigidity
- problems with balance and coordination, known as postural instability
Symptoms often start on one side first.
Slow physical movement
The person finds it hard to start moving. Starting to get up from a chair can become more difficult, for example. It takes longer than before to do physical tasks. A lack of coordination can cause the person to fall or drop things.
The difficulty is not only with carrying out the movement itself, but also with planning and starting it.
Many people may experience slower movements and attribute these to older age, but sometimes they are a sign of PD.
Tremor
Tremor is a familiar symptom of PD to many people. The shaking often starts in one hand.
It may start in one foot, or the person may begin rubbing their forefinger and thumb together, back-and-forth. Less commonly, it starts in the jaw or face. Many people do not have a severe tremor.
It is usually more likely to happen when the affected part of the body is resting. Stress or anxiety may make it more noticeable.
Other conditions that may lead to tremor include:
- multiple sclerosis
- encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain
- alcohol use disorder
The presence of tremor is not necessarily a sign of PD.
However, according to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, around 70 percent of people with PD experience a slight tremor at some time during the disease.
Rigidity
The muscles feel stiff, and this can make some everyday tasks troublesome, such as getting out of a chair, rolling over in bed, using body language appropriately, or making fine finger movements.
Stiffness is most common in the limbs and neck. Severe stiffness can reduce a person’s range of movements. Sometimes there is pain.
Jul 22, 2026
31 May 2026 American Medical Journal Neurology
PARKINSON’S disease patients described restored autonomy after STN-DBS, while still fearing symptom recurrence in daily life after surgery.
Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation may improve daily function for people with Parkinson’s disease, but new qualitative findings show that life after treatment is shaped by both regained independence and ongoing uncertainty.
A descriptive phenomenological study explored how 10 people with Parkinson’s disease experienced daily life after subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation, also known as STN-DBS. Semi-structured interviews were analyzed using Giorgi’s descriptive method, with the aim of capturing lived experiences beyond measurable functional outcomes.
Restored Autonomy in Daily Life
Participants described strong feelings of gratitude and relief after STN-DBS, particularly when the intervention helped them regain autonomy and take part in meaningful daily activities. For many, the treatment supported a renewed sense of normalcy, allowing them to move beyond the identity of being a patient and feel “fully human” again.
These accounts highlight a clinically important dimension of Parkinson’s disease care: the value of participation, independence, and self-management. Although STN-DBS is already established for individuals whose response to pharmacologic treatment becomes insufficient, the study suggests that its impact may be felt most powerfully in ordinary routines, social participation, and the ability to manage daily life with greater confidence.
Jul 21, 2026
Medically reviewed by Susan W. Lee, DO — Written by Amanda Barrell — Updated on May 14, 2026
Key takeaways
- Tremors are involuntary muscle contractions that cause body parts to tremble. Hand tremors are common and are often due to stress or tiredness.
- Hand tremors may also indicate health conditions, such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, or alcohol use disorder.
- Mild tremors may not be a cause for concern. If tremors worsen or interfere with daily activities, it is important to talk with a healthcare professional.
For some people, shaky hands may be a minor inconvenience. For others, the symptom may lead to difficulty using the hands for everyday tasks.
This article describes what tremors are, outlines some potential causes of shaky hands, and asks whether it is common. We also provide tips on how to stop the hands from shaking and discuss some of the treatment options available.
Tremors are involuntary, rhythmic muscle contractions that make a body part appear to be shaking or trembling. Everyone has a slight tremor when moving or maintaining a particular posture. These are called physiologic tremors.
They are often so small that a person does not see or notice them. Hand tremors may be more noticeable when a person holds their hands out straight in front of the body or when they are stressed or anxious.
Tremors mostly affect the hands. However, it can also occur in other body parts, such as the:
- head
- arms
- legs
- torso
- voice box (larynx), which may cause a shaky voice
There are several types of tremors. However, most fall into two categories:
- Resting tremors: These occur when the muscles are relaxed, including when the hands are resting on the lap.
- Action tremors: These occur when the muscles contract due to voluntary movement. The majority of tremors are action tremors.
Sometimes, tremors can indicate an underlying health issue, especially if they are persistent or very pronounced.
Tremors can be normal or could result from neurological conditions, other health problems, or medication use. Below are some potential causes of hand tremors.
Enhanced physiologic tremor
Enhanced physiologic tremor (EPT) is perhaps the most commonly observed postural tremor. It usually affects the hands and fingers on both sides of the body.
The following may worsen EPT in some people:
- stress
- anxiety
- fatigue
- lack of sleep
- excessive caffeine intake
- vigorous exercise
- overactive thyroid
Enhanced physiological tremor does not require medical treatment, except potentially when a person needs to rely on fine muscle coordination for their work or other activities.
Jul 20, 2026
Researchers say results suggest 'complex interaction' of factors
Written by Marisa Horak, MS | July 20, 2026
- Parkinson's disease patients are less physically fit than healthy adults, even with regular exercise.
- The fitness differences are not explained by variations in muscle mass or fat tissue.
- Neurological factors in PD affect physical function, supporting strength and aerobic exercises.
Older people with Parkinson’s disease who engage in regular exercise tend to perform worse on measures of physical fitness than similarly aged adults without the disease, but these differences are not explained by variations in body muscle mass, a study showed.
While men and women with Parkinson’s tend to have different amounts of muscle and fat, these anatomical differences don’t translate into differences in physical function, the researchers said.
“This finding reinforces the notion that physical function in PD depends on a complex interaction between [neurological], muscular, and postural control factors, beyond the absolute quantity of [muscle] or fat tissue,” they wrote.
An early-access version of the study, “Physical performance and DEXA-derived body composition in adults with Parkinson’s disease participating in a community-based exercise program and community-dwelling older adults: a cross-sectional study,” was published in Scientific Reports.
The study was conducted among adults in Latin America, a region that is underrepresented in Parkinson’s research.
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