Stephen Tisch is a neurologist working with patients at St Vincent's Health Network Sydney, 390 Victoria Street, Darlinghurst, Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia.
If you’re dealing with movement problems, Stephen looks after people where the nervous system is affecting how the body moves, speaks, or stays steady. This can show up in everyday ways, like shaking, stiffness, slow or awkward movements, or trouble with balance and coordination.
Common conditions he helps with include essential tremor, focal dystonia, and movement disorders. At times, problems can also be linked to specific medication effects, so he also supports people with drug induced dyskinesia, where unwanted movements can happen as a side effect of treatment.
Stephen’s work includes supporting people with conditions such as dopa-responsive dystonia and Brown syndrome. There are also cases where speech and movement don’t line up well, including dysarthria, and conditions with more complex nerve and muscle involvement like Friedreich ataxia.
Treatment can be more than tablets. Stephen also offers care options that are often used for hard-to-control symptoms. This includes deep brain stimulation, which is a type of treatment used for selected movement disorders when symptoms don’t settle with usual care.
He also provides guidance around thalamotomy, another treatment option used for certain tremor and movement problems. The goal in these cases is usually the same: reduce symptoms and help people get back more control in daily life.
Some patients come in with issues that affect balance and coordination, such as acute cerebellar ataxia. Others may have symptoms that feel unusual or hard to explain, including anhidrosis, where sweating can be affected. Stephen focuses on understanding what’s going on and mapping a sensible plan from there.
Stephen works with a range of people across Sydney and beyond through St Vincent's Health Network. For anyone who has been living with shaking, spasms, or other movement changes, it can feel stressful. Having a clinician who can look at the nervous system side of things can make a big difference in how you move forward.
