Neuvara is a new treatment strategy for people with Functional Neurological Disorder symptoms that affect their movement.

It can assist people who have the following symptoms, alone or in combination:

• Weakness

• Paralysis

• Tremors

• Tics

• Involuntary movements

• Heavy or frozen limbs

Does it work?

Around 75% of patients experience a return to fully normal movement with one treatment. Of these patients, over 90% maintain their gains long term.

What does it involve?

Treatment takes place over three days at our Auckland clinic. We encourage you to bring close family or friends with you to all treatment sessions.

Day 1: You will meet the team for an in-depth discussion about your situation and an assessment of your current movement abilities. We will also talk about FND and what causes it, to help you understand the condition and how our treatment strategy works.

Day 2: You will spend most of the day with the team, starting with movement preparation. This involves using Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation to check that the pathways from the brain to your muscles can carry messages normally. Then we move into specialised physiotherapy to rapidly restore normal movement patterns. Once you’re moving more freely we work with you to refine and extend your movement skills. We will take breaks as needed, including a lunch break.

What about other symptoms?

People we treat often have other symptoms such as:

• Sensory loss

• Dissociative or seizure-like episodes

• Pain

• Fatigue

They report that these symptoms typically resolve as well, once their movement system is reset.