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MS muscle weakness
I was going to post this in the other thread but decided to start my own so it didn't get lost.
I think the best way to get your strength evaluated is with a PT. I am dx'd with MS but I did get all of the specifics from my MS doctor. Until I started PT I had no idea how extensive my weakness really was especially in my lower body. The PT did more specific tests for strength.
The neuro is looking more for neurological things.
My MS doctor has sent me to weekly PT. The PT has given me isometric exercises to do because I do not tolerate resistance types. I start to tremor and that is not helpful.
I am to have an OT evaluation next week. I don't think I will have ongoing OT but maybe 3 or 4 sessions to give me some ideas on how to make functioning easier and safer.
Like cutting with a knife...not save when you have some weakness along with spasms.
I think anyone with strength issues can get a PT evaluation that may really help put your mind at ease and give your neurologist more information.
The therapy for MS is different than for someone who is going into rehab. My PT said her goal with me is to maintain what I have and hope to stop any further loss. With MS you don't want anything that makes your muscle fatigued. Rest and easy going is the way I deal with MS and 5 little kids at home.
Well, I don't know if this helped any but I learned so much more from my PT about my MS than I did from my neuro.
For me PT was an eye opener. That was the point where I finally accepted that I DO have MS and stopped questioning it.
Hope this helps. A PT evaluation will help tell you if you really are in the normal range or not.
Several years ago I would have 2-3 months where I could not move very well. I had significant weakness. I would go from being able to skip two steps going up and down the steps to hardly being able to get up them at all. That would last several weeks and then all of a sudden it would get better and I was back to my normal self.
Then the times between these odd episodes started to get less. I would not have as long of a break. Since I started optic neuritis 18 months ago I have not had return to my normal lower body strength. It continues to get worse.
I am dx'd with RRMS because my my ON did subside. But I wonder about it. Anyway.............hope those of you with questions about MS and strength will get a PT evaluation to help answer your questions. Strength is something that varies from one person to the next but a PT can tell you if you are still in the norm or not.
LA
I think the best way to get your strength evaluated is with a PT. I am dx'd with MS but I did get all of the specifics from my MS doctor. Until I started PT I had no idea how extensive my weakness really was especially in my lower body. The PT did more specific tests for strength.
The neuro is looking more for neurological things.
My MS doctor has sent me to weekly PT. The PT has given me isometric exercises to do because I do not tolerate resistance types. I start to tremor and that is not helpful.
I am to have an OT evaluation next week. I don't think I will have ongoing OT but maybe 3 or 4 sessions to give me some ideas on how to make functioning easier and safer.
Like cutting with a knife...not save when you have some weakness along with spasms.
I think anyone with strength issues can get a PT evaluation that may really help put your mind at ease and give your neurologist more information.
The therapy for MS is different than for someone who is going into rehab. My PT said her goal with me is to maintain what I have and hope to stop any further loss. With MS you don't want anything that makes your muscle fatigued. Rest and easy going is the way I deal with MS and 5 little kids at home.
Well, I don't know if this helped any but I learned so much more from my PT about my MS than I did from my neuro.
For me PT was an eye opener. That was the point where I finally accepted that I DO have MS and stopped questioning it.
Hope this helps. A PT evaluation will help tell you if you really are in the normal range or not.
Several years ago I would have 2-3 months where I could not move very well. I had significant weakness. I would go from being able to skip two steps going up and down the steps to hardly being able to get up them at all. That would last several weeks and then all of a sudden it would get better and I was back to my normal self.
Then the times between these odd episodes started to get less. I would not have as long of a break. Since I started optic neuritis 18 months ago I have not had return to my normal lower body strength. It continues to get worse.
I am dx'd with RRMS because my my ON did subside. But I wonder about it. Anyway.............hope those of you with questions about MS and strength will get a PT evaluation to help answer your questions. Strength is something that varies from one person to the next but a PT can tell you if you are still in the norm or not.
LA
This is something i have been concerned with too. I am not even dx'd yet so I am not sure what to do. I have a treadmill here but it just makes me more fatigued and i was not even sure if it would be good for me. I want to get hings done but all the tests and just the waiting is so slow, you feel as if you are getting worse while waiting. What Quix said makes a lot of sense.
We have a good PT in this town i have gone to before and I have thought about just calling and talking to him, just to see what he has to say.
thanx, meg
We have a good PT in this town i have gone to before and I have thought about just calling and talking to him, just to see what he has to say.
thanx, meg
Thanks, LA, this is a great discussion!!
And, I also love horses and riding, and thought I might never get the chance again. Maybe now I can.................
Merry Christmas, all!!
doni
And, I also love horses and riding, and thought I might never get the chance again. Maybe now I can.................
Merry Christmas, all!!
doni
Thank you! I did not know that. There is a place locally where I was taking two of our children with downs for Theraputic horseback riding.
I should see if I could be approved. When it warms up of course!
We have ice and no school. Unhappy children here are missing their Christmas parties at school. But they are eating their snacks I made for their class! :-)
LA
I should see if I could be approved. When it warms up of course!
We have ice and no school. Unhappy children here are missing their Christmas parties at school. But they are eating their snacks I made for their class! :-)
LA
Hi LA. Yes, therapeutic horseback riding is recommended by some groups to "re-educate" the leg muscles. A horse uses similar muscles to walk as does a human. So with your legs against the horse, it can help to re-teach your leg muscles.
Just google therapeutic horseback riding centers in your state and it should bring some up. My friend who is in a wheelchair from MS is starting next month. The center near her has equipment to help her on the horse and volunteers available to stand with the horse and guide it.
Elaine
Just google therapeutic horseback riding centers in your state and it should bring some up. My friend who is in a wheelchair from MS is starting next month. The center near her has equipment to help her on the horse and volunteers available to stand with the horse and guide it.
Elaine
Don't give up on your horse dream yet. Horses are being used more and more in the therapy of both the mentally and the physically disabled. There are contractions....us, contraptions... to help you stay seated. I doubt that you will ever go cross country steeplechasing, but you and your kids may be able to ride together. I think Elaine knows something about horse therapy.
My close friend with a teenage child with Down. He does riding and because of the low muscle tone they adapt the riding in some way.
Quix
My close friend with a teenage child with Down. He does riding and because of the low muscle tone they adapt the riding in some way.
Quix
Sounds good, Quix - thanks! As you know, I'm dumping the old guy and looking for somebody knew, so we'll see how that goes.
As a big proponent of PT I'd like to jump in here. Although PT "may" help strengthen muscles, it will do so only for those muscles that are weak from disuse. It can't do much for the muscles which no longer have good nerve signal to them.
But, what PT can do is help you recruit other muslce groups to do what you need to do. they can show you a new way of walking - stride, cadence, length of step. They ar3e the ones that can really determine what assistive devices can help. They can help you get the most of what you have.
If you read the guidelines on MS Care in the literature by the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers, you'll see that PT is a mainstay of therapy for both weakness and spasticity. They feel that it has a use throughout the spectrum of MS disability. Your neuro is taking a nihilistic view of it. Phooey, on him. No, it won't return strength to muscles already affected by MS, but it still can help a great deal. And sometimes if the supporting muscles are still healthy, they can take over some of the work for lost major muscle groups.
There is a lot to be said for helping to retain what you DO have and not rejecting the PT because you won't "get better."
Even if PT doesn't ultimately help - what possible downside is there to trying?
Quix
But, what PT can do is help you recruit other muslce groups to do what you need to do. they can show you a new way of walking - stride, cadence, length of step. They ar3e the ones that can really determine what assistive devices can help. They can help you get the most of what you have.
If you read the guidelines on MS Care in the literature by the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers, you'll see that PT is a mainstay of therapy for both weakness and spasticity. They feel that it has a use throughout the spectrum of MS disability. Your neuro is taking a nihilistic view of it. Phooey, on him. No, it won't return strength to muscles already affected by MS, but it still can help a great deal. And sometimes if the supporting muscles are still healthy, they can take over some of the work for lost major muscle groups.
There is a lot to be said for helping to retain what you DO have and not rejecting the PT because you won't "get better."
Even if PT doesn't ultimately help - what possible downside is there to trying?
Quix
jen,
I am not showing any improvement in strength with PT. But the PT is showing me how to "remind" my muscles how to do certain things. For MS a PT will give you coping strategies.
she is the one that insisted I should not be walking unassisted and helped me get my rollator. I bought myself a cane. Therapists help give you tools to function as normally as possible.
So even thought your doctor does not thing you will gain any strength a PT can be a very valuable tool/asset in helping you keep as functional and independent as possible while dealing with MS.
It is weird how my muscles have "forgotten" how to do things.
My MS doctor knew I had major weakness and that is why he sent me to the PT. The PT helped break it all down and showed me where and why I had weakness and how to cope. How to keep myself safe while moving around.
She is an listening ear for me. I can tell her about the weird problems I am having and she will explain why.
I can tell her how active and physically fit I used to be and she will listen. I told her today I used to be strong enough to ride horses bare back. That takes major lower body strength to stay on a moving horse with no saddle.
It makes me very sad to know what I have lost. I LOVE horses. I don't have any now that I am an adult but I hoped to get one once our kids were older. But now I doubt I could even get up into a saddle much less stay ontop of the horse! :(
PT would be a benefit if you get a good person to work with you.
LA
I am not showing any improvement in strength with PT. But the PT is showing me how to "remind" my muscles how to do certain things. For MS a PT will give you coping strategies.
she is the one that insisted I should not be walking unassisted and helped me get my rollator. I bought myself a cane. Therapists help give you tools to function as normally as possible.
So even thought your doctor does not thing you will gain any strength a PT can be a very valuable tool/asset in helping you keep as functional and independent as possible while dealing with MS.
It is weird how my muscles have "forgotten" how to do things.
My MS doctor knew I had major weakness and that is why he sent me to the PT. The PT helped break it all down and showed me where and why I had weakness and how to cope. How to keep myself safe while moving around.
She is an listening ear for me. I can tell her about the weird problems I am having and she will explain why.
I can tell her how active and physically fit I used to be and she will listen. I told her today I used to be strong enough to ride horses bare back. That takes major lower body strength to stay on a moving horse with no saddle.
It makes me very sad to know what I have lost. I LOVE horses. I don't have any now that I am an adult but I hoped to get one once our kids were older. But now I doubt I could even get up into a saddle much less stay ontop of the horse! :(
PT would be a benefit if you get a good person to work with you.
LA
LATW, unfortunately some damage doesn't repair itself during remission. I've had some leg and arm weakness that seems to be permanent - or as permanent as it ever gets. My neurologist thinks that PT won't help me. Do you think PT has helped you regain some strength in your muscles? Or was it more helpful in diagnosing muscle weakness?
I agree with LA. The neuros never say anything about me being weak, but the PT said I had weakness in the hip flexors and ankles. The PT noticed stuff that the neuros either don't notice or can't be bothered about.
I definitely notice the weakness more when I'm fatigued or have been using the muscles. Like when I walk home from work, I usually have to half use my arms to pull myself up the few steps into the house because my legs don't have the oomph left to go up. I have trouble carrying grocery bags or other things like that very far now and when my husband and I move something heavy, I'm dangerous because I can't always hold up my end very well.
Does anybody know exactly how MS causes weakness?
sho
I definitely notice the weakness more when I'm fatigued or have been using the muscles. Like when I walk home from work, I usually have to half use my arms to pull myself up the few steps into the house because my legs don't have the oomph left to go up. I have trouble carrying grocery bags or other things like that very far now and when my husband and I move something heavy, I'm dangerous because I can't always hold up my end very well.
Does anybody know exactly how MS causes weakness?
sho
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