The terms can be very confusing, when making a note, and even the evaluation that the doctor and the nurse can do, during an anamnesis.

The term paralysis (where Plegia is synonymous) refers to the loss of capacity for voluntary muscular contraction, functional or organic disruption at any point of the motorway, which can go from the cerebral cortex to the muscle itself; paralysis is spoken when any movement in these proportions is impossible.

Already, paresis refers to when the movement is only limited or weak. The term paresis comes from the Greek PARESIS and means relaxation, weakness. In cases of paresis, the motility occurs only in a below-normal pattern, regarding muscle strength, movement precision, range of motion and localized muscular resistance, ie, it refers to a partial impairment, to a semi-paralysis.