Balance and walking problems vary considerably depending on the person and may include: Tripping, stumbling or falling. Unsteadiness when walking or turning. Needing support from walls, furniture or other people.
Characteristics of the MS gait pattern
You may walk more slowly, with shorter steps. You may lack in confidence when you walk – leading to hesitation and stumbling. You might feel unsteady when turning or walking. You might find placing your foot on the ground difficult.
Balance: Balance problems typically result in a swaying and “drunken” type of gait known as ataxia. Sensory deficit: Some people with MS have such severe numbness in their feet that they cannot feel the floor or know where their feet are. This is referred to as a sensory ataxia.
Mobility problems are common among people with multiple sclerosis, but there's a lot you can do to stay on your feet. Eighty percent of people who have multiple sclerosis (MS) experience problems with walking within 10 to 15 years of the onset of disease, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (NMSS).
The present work suggests that people with MS have a decrease in speed and stride length, as well as an increase in double-stance intervals during gait.
Erythromelalgia is a painful MS symptom that affects the feet. The feet may feel tight or swollen and have a burning sensation. Some remedies for hot feet include: wearing pressure socks.
Gait dysfunction in MS is distinguished by decreased gait speed, walking endurance, step length, cadence and joint motion, as well as increased metabolic cost of walking and increased variability of gait.
Gait impairments are well-documented in multiple sclerosis (MS). Persons with MS (PwMS) have demonstrated decreased straight-line velocity and step length, lower limb swing asymmetry, reduced maximum hip and knee extension, and an overall decrease in propulsive force during walking [1].
A person with benign MS will have few symptoms or loss of ability after having MS for about 15 years, while most people with MS would be expected to have some degree of disability after that amount of time, particularly if their MS went untreated.
MS can cause a wide range of symptoms that can have an effect on balance, including difficulties with coordination, tremor and muscle weakness, stiffness or spasms.
The muscle weakness that you are feeling can be directly linked to MS because the damage to your nerves can disrupt signals to the muscles. This nerve damage makes it hard to move your muscles and leads to a heavy feeling in your legs (or other areas of your body).
Those symptoms include loss of vision in an eye, loss of power in an arm or leg or a rising sense of numbness in the legs. Other common symptoms associated with MS include spasms, fatigue, depression, incontinence issues, sexual dysfunction, and walking difficulties.
A common visual symptom of MS is optic neuritis — inflammation of the optic (vision) nerve. Optic neuritis usually occurs in one eye and may cause aching pain with eye movement, blurred vision, dim vision or loss of color vision. For example, the color red may appear washed out or gray.
Balance deficits in people with MS appear to be caused by slowed spinal somatosensory conduction and not by cerebellar involvement. People with MS appear to compensate for their slowed spinal somatosensory conduction by increasing the amplitude scaling and the magnitude of their postural responses.
The Romberg Test is a neurological test which detects poor balance because of deficits in proprioception. The test involves standing with your feet together and closing your eyes. The doctor will observe how you are able to maintain your balance and an upright posture.
The 'MS hug' is symptom of MS that feels like an uncomfortable, sometimes painful feeling of tightness or pressure, usually around your stomach or chest. The pain or tightness can stretch all around the chest or stomach, or it can be just on one side. The MS hug can feel different from one person to another.
Early MS symptoms may include blurred vision, numbness, dizziness, muscle weakness, and coordination issues. MS is progressive and can worsen over time. Eventually, the disease can do damage directly to the nerves, causing permanent disability.
Most symptoms develop abruptly, within hours or days. These attacks or relapses of MS typically reach their peak within a few days at most and then resolve slowly over the next several days or weeks so that a typical relapse will be symptomatic for about eight weeks from onset to recovery. Resolution is often complete.
The three biggest concerns related to footwear for MS are sensory issues, balance issues, and motor weakness, Dr. Pfeffer says. “How one is most affected in any of those areas will affect the shoes,” he says. Here are eight rules to keep in mind when you're shopping for the best shoes for MS.
Some common examples of an abnormal gait include: Limping. Dragging your toes. Shuffling your feet.
Problems with the joints, (such as arthritis), bones (such as deformities), circulation (such as peripheral vascular disease), or even pain can make it difficult to walk properly. Diseases or injuries to the nerves, muscles, brain, spinal cord, or inner ear can affect normal walking.