Many different medical specialists need to be involved in your care to maximize symptom management and improve quality of life.
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (physiatrist): A physician who specializes in treatment of conditions that affect mobility, self-care, and interfere with the ability to perform given roles at home, work, and in the community.
Neurologist: A physician who specializes in conditions of the nervous system.
Movement disorder specialist: A movement disorder specialist is a neurologist who specializes in conditions of the nervous system that affect movement.
Neurosurgeon: A physician who specializes in the surgical treatment of conditions that affect the nervous system. For Parkinson’s disease patients, procedures that neurosurgeons perform include Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) and other surgical treatments like pallidotomy and thallamotomy.
Internist: A physician who provides general health care to adults.
Psychiatrist: A physician who specializes in the treatment of conditions that affect emotional well-being and cognitive disturbance. They are experts in treating depression, psychosis, hallucination, and dementias and are very knowledgeable in medication and medication side effects.
