Body twist

[amas]

Hi everyone.  Yesterday while busy in the kitchen I had this odd sensation.  As I was walking I felt like my bottom part of the body was going to the right and the top part to the left. My intention was to move forward.  I've had vertigo and dizzyness a lot but it didn't feel like it was coming from my head.  It felt pysical.  I have had many body spasms, jerking and twithces in the last two months but this was different.  Has anyone had this happen before.  I wont dwell on it to much just curious.

Another thing.  I have read how many of you talk about foot drop, which seems to affect the toes.  I seem to notice that I drag my left foot a lot.  I notice that when wearing tennis shoes I here that noise when the shoe drags on certain floors.  Is this the same thing?

Anamaria

[amas]

Thanks for the input.  I did those couple of test and believe it is a weak hip flexor.  
Six years ago I had a water sking accident in which I tore a few areas in the back muscle of the left leg and the tendon that runs outside of the knee.  I was severely swollen and bruised. I had pysical therary for months and MRI's done, some denied.  Eventually I had gained strength back and the pain was less after about 2 1/2 years.  I definately was better (not 100%) but started experiencing problems this last year that was different from the pain and issues from that episode.

So my dumb question is  - if I have messed up signals coming from damage in the brain -can/will it attack an old injured area.  I have such issues with this leg that I did not have before. I don't know that I did anything to aggravate it and some of the symptoms are different than before.  My Neuro said I have slight spaticity in both legs and more so in my right.

Anamaria

[Quixotic1]

Ooooh, right back at you.  As an Extinguished Lady myself I will say that your neuro is flying in the face of ALL the international recommendations of MS Experts.  Physical Therapy is a mainstay of symptomatic treatment.

If there is no signal going to a nerve you are not going to be able to exercise it back.  BUT, the PT can find which muscles are still functional, if any, and help you to build the strength in them to increase your mobility.  A good one will analyze your gait, see where the problems are and make changes in the pattern, cadence, length of stride or whatever, to improve your rhythm.  My PT watched and watched me walk after we had learned which exercises to do to gain strength.  She told me to bend my right knee earlier in the stride forward and to take smaller steps.  Lo, and behold, my gait evened out some.

Your neuro is wrong.  Ask for a referral anyway.  Find out which PT groups are used by the local rehab centers for strokes, head injury, MS, CP, etc.  Those are the ones you want.  Not the sports-oriented ones.

PT allows you to maximize what you do have.  It is true it cannot return what you have lost.

Quix

[jensequitur]

Ooh, distinguished ladies!  I'm not sure I qualify for either of those!

Quix, how effective is physical therapy for leg weakness?  I'm getting tired of walking funny, and I'd like to be able to run again, but my neuro seemed dismissive of PT.

[Quixotic1]

Hi, Kiddo!  Both of the distinguished ladies are correct.

You were indeed having a problem with your proprioception.  Proprioception is the "sensation of position" It is the knowledge - without looking at it - where a limb is in space; what position it is in, what angle the joint is at, what direction it is moving. When the doctor tests it it is usually where they move a finger or a toe up and up and ask to to tell them with your eyes closed which direction he moved it.

"Foot drop" is specifically a weakness of the muscle called the "tibialis anterior."  This muscle runs right along the outside of the shinbone, which is the tibia bone.  Try this:  When you're sitting, leave your right foot on the floor and pull your toes upward as far as you can.  You will feel the muscle that runs along the outside of the shinbone  (the tibia) bunch up and tighten.  Now try it with your left foot.  See if it is harder or slower to bring your toes up.

If you find that you can bring your left toes up just fine (the toe that drags) then you might be having some spasticity in that leg.  When that happens, sometimes the spasticity "pulls" the toes down while you walk.  This is called a "functional foot drop."  When the toe drags when you walk, it means that, for some reason, you can't pull the toes up high enough to clear the floor.  Does your left leg ever feel like it is stiff and straight?  What I call Frankenstein Leg.

Another problem this may be is severe weakness of the hip flexors.  The hip flexor is what you use to lift up the lower leg when the knee is bent during the stride forward, or say, to lift your foot onto a step.  My hip flexor is very weak.  In order to bring my right leg forward in walking I have to swing my whole lower body to pull the leg forward with it - if that makes sense.  If you can't lift the whole foot in the middle of the forward stride, then the foot drags through the step.  Often you will find that you turn the foot outward to make the stride easier or you swing the lower leg outward to help it clear the ground.

Try walking toward a full length mirror and see if the left leg is moving differently than the right.  Early on in weakness you make find the dragging happens mainly when you are fatigued.

You can test the hip flexor by sitting on a tallish chair.  Lift your leg off the chair and hold it up.  It should come up several inches and be easy to hold up.  I can lift it less than an inch and only for a few seconds.

You should call your doctor and ask for a physical therapy referral to analyze your gait.  Tell the doc also that your foot is dragging as you walk.  Try to get in to see a PT specialing in neurological (stoke, MS, cerebral palsy) problems, rather than a sports oriented one.

Hope this helps.

Quix

[amas]

Thanks for input.  I guess it could have been that. I've had instances where I didn't know where my left arm was.  This body twist senstation felt so weird that I stopped in my tracks.  All I thought was "I don't need another thing making walking difficult" Hope it doesn't happen again.  

Jensequitur, thanks for the explanation on the muscles around the ankle and foot drop.  I guess I have more of a foot drag like you explained for yourself.  I'm hearing more and more of that squeaking noise when I work out or even at home.

Anamaria

[jensequitur]

Oh, yeah - foot drop.  Foot drop is when the bits of muscle around the ankle stop working, so you can't actually lift your foot when walking.  My right foot drags, but I can still lift it - I just forget to do it when I'm walking, so I'll trip on my foot.  And trip on stairs, because I haven't lifted it far enough.

[jensequitur]

Proprioperception is when you're not quite sure of where your body is in space.  Like when you're sitting there, can't see your arms, and for a second you think they might be at your sides - but no, they're resting on the armrests.

Definitely google it.  That's where I learned about it!

[Momzilla]

Hi, again~

I'm wondering if you're experiencing something called proprioception (?).  I don't completely get it, but I think it has to do with the way you "experience" your own body.  Wait -- that just sounds wrong. It is more the way ..... Google it, OK?

I'll try again -- it's the way we perceive our bodies in relation to the way it's moving and how the body parts are related to each other.  Like -- Sometimes, if I'm sitting with my legs crossed under my desk -- sometimes, I forget, or I can't tell they're crossed and I go to stand up and I trip big time.  I THINK that has something to do with proprioception.  Or maybe it's because they're so numb, or maybe because I'm just not paying attention -- I don't know.

Google it.  Feel better.

Zilla*