Rare diseases · Sign or symptom

Cogwheel rigidity

HP:0002396

What it means

A type of rigidity in which a muscle responds with cogwheellike jerks to the use of constant force in bending the limb (i.e., it gives way in little, repeated jerks when the muscle is passively stretched).

Cogwheel rigidity is a typical manifestation of Parkinson disease.

Rare diseases that can present with this13

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category

Cogwheel rigidity

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This page uses the Human Phenotype Ontology (2026-06-23) — Human Phenotype Ontology Consortium, hpo.jax.org. Disease associations from Orphanet (INSERM), CC BY 4.0. Content is educational and is not medical advice.