pain

I was diagnosed with ms In January of this year.I have every where on the net trying to find out if ms can cause skin pain.My skin hurts pretty bad.Cloths even hurt to where.I think i am going crazy lol

[ANonnyMouse73]

Hi tinkerbell and welcome,

I get a lot of "skin pain" mainly on my scalp (I'm always saying "my HAIR hurts!!") and intermittently on my arms, when it hurts to wear clothes with sleeves. I'm not sure if it's an MS thing or not, as I was only diagnosed last month and haven't had a good sit down with my neuro yet to discuss.

[SLadylani]

MS can cause some odd symptoms, as autoimmune illnesses or odd in nature and unique to each person, although painful skin is not one of the diagnosing or typical symptoms. I would definitely talk to your neurologist/rheumatologist or primary doctor about the symptom as it certainly must be uncomfortable to live like that each day! Your doctors can at least rule out another auto-immune related illnesss or other serious condition, and proivide relief for your symptoms.

[supermum_ms]

Hi Tinkerbell,

What your talking about is called Paresthesia see below.....

"Paresthesia: An abnormal sensation of the skin, such as numbness, tingling, pricking, burning, or creeping on the skin that has no objective cause. Paresthesia is the usual American spelling and paraesthesia the preferred English spelling.

Pronounced par·es·the·sia. From the Greek para- (abnormal) + esthesis (feeling) = an abnormal feeling."

Paresthesia is probably one of the most common sx of MS, 90% experience sensory sx. It can range from mild to chronic, irritating to painful. We've had a few MSers talking about their skin really hurting, usually in an area or areas, which can make wearing clothing difficult at times. Within the catagory is Alledynia, see below.....

"Allodynia: This is a particular type of sensory symptom that is in result to a stimulus, such as a person’s touch or even clothing or bed linens touching their skin. It is stimulus-dependent and only lasts as long as the stimulus is present. Allodynia is usually a short-term problem."

Paresthesias are caused by lesions in the brain or spine, wonky signals etc etc. There is a good health page (top right of your screen, yellow icon) on paresthesia, well worth reading all the health pages so you can understand what your sx are called, understanding helps a lot!

Cheers.....JJ

[COBOB]

I get an itching burn in the skin on my hands, feet and ankles sometimes.  It is MS related and there are several people on this forum that get similar pain.  Itching is a recognized pain syndrome in MS,

Bob

[drsdonthelp]

I am not dx with ms, still in limbo, but I also have that itching burn that Bob described on the top of my left hand. I sometimes get it behind my knees or the lower part of my leg. The itch on my hand is the worst.  Sometimes it is so intense it hurts.

I have literally scratched until I bled or made my skin on my left hand look leathery. Anytime it starts to heal and look almost normal again, the cycle begins again, and again. Going on 3 years in Jan.

Pam

[sllowe]

Hi Tinkerbell,

Has your doctor offered you anything for this pain?
In addition to above responses I think you will find this HP useful and will least reassure you, it's not you going crazy:

http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Multiple-Sclerosis/Nerve-Neuropathic-Pain---A-Primer/show/371?cid=36

-Shell