“When the person bends their neck, there's mechanical irritation to the damaged nerve fibers, which can cause what feels like an electric shock.” People with MS may also experience muscle spasms, tremors and stiffness.
Lhermitte's sign - a brief, stabbing, electric-shock-like sensation that runs from the back of the head down the spine and often into the arms or legs, brought on by bending the neck forward. It typically means there is or has been damage from MS in the cervical spine (neck).
Back and neck pain are not unusual MS symptoms. In fact, an estimated 10 percent to 16 percent of individuals with MS experience back pain, and certain sensations in the neck, such as Lhermitte's sign, can help to diagnose MS.
The early signs and symptoms of MS can be the same for women and men. One of the more obvious first signs of MS is a problem with vision, known as optic neuritis. This is often because it's a more concrete symptom as opposed to vaguer neurological symptoms like numbness and tingling.
Some of the most common early signs are: fatigue (a kind of exhaustion which is out of all proportion to the task undertaken) stumbling more than before. unusual feelings in the skin (such as pins and needles or numbness)
Fatigue. Occurs in about 80% of people, can significantly interfere with the ability to function at home and work, and may be the most prominent symptom in a person who otherwise has minimal activity limitations.
Parts Of Your Body Feel Numb Or "Strange"
This is especially true if it's been in the form of numbness or weakness in one or more limbs, women's health expert Dr. Donnica L. Moore tells me. You might also feel repetitive pain or tingling sensations in various parts of the body (like your face).
What Does MS Feels Like? A lack of feeling or a pins-and-needles sensation can be the first sign of nerve damage from MS. It usually happens in your face, arms, or legs, and on one side of your body. It tends to go away on its own.
Multiple sclerosis usually affects people between the ages of 20 and 50 years, and the average age of onset is approximately 34 years. Multiple sclerosis can affect children and teens (pediatric MS). It has been estimated that 2%-5% of people with MS develop symptoms prior to age 18.
Another common condition of the spine that can cause neurologic symptoms similar to MS is cervical spondylosis, which is arthritis of the neck that occurs with normal aging. Rarely, another structural problem within the spine like a tumor can mimic symptoms of MS.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was first used to visualize multiple sclerosis (MS) in the upper cervical spine in the late 1980s. Spinal MS is often associated with concomitant brain lesions; however, as many as 20% of patients with spinal lesions do not have intracranial plaques.
There are two main types of pain in multiple sclerosis:
Pain in the limbs is very common. musculoskeletal (nociceptive) pain which is caused by damage to muscles, tendons, ligaments and soft tissue, for example neck or back pain caused by changes in posture or sitting for very long periods.
Dysesthesias are types of pain that are experienced as a burning or aching sensation. They are the most common types of pain seen in MS. The most frequently prescribed drugs used to treat this type of pain were originally developed as anti-seizure medications or antidepressants.
Is this common with MS or another cause? Tingling of the shoulder, neck up to the face can occur for many reasons. This can occur with multiple sclerosis; however, it can also occur with irritation of nerves in the neck due to “a pinched nerve in the neck” either from arthritis or a disc problem in the neck.
In MS patients commonly have neuropathic pain. It often affects a limb or limbs, and sometimes involved the trunk. It is described in a various ways but often the following descriptions are used: “burning, tingling, jabbing, electrical, itching”.
Common symptoms include fatigue, bladder and bowel problems, sexual problems, pain, cognitive and mood changes such as depression, muscular changes and visual changes. See your doctor for investigation and diagnosis of symptoms, since some symptoms can be caused by other illnesses.
MS attack symptoms vary widely and include balance problems, vision problems, numbness and tingling, and trouble concentrating. If symptoms are severe, medications such as corticosteroids may be prescribed to reduce inflammation and manage symptoms.
True flares gradually worsen over the course of hours, consist of new "negative symptoms" or loss of function (weakness, vision loss, gait impairment, numbness), and will typically last multiple days. Symptoms that are brief and transient (lasting less than 24 hours) are not consistent with a flare.
While there are no definitive blood tests for diagnosing MS, they can rule out other conditions that may mimic MS symptoms, including Lyme disease, collagen-vascular diseases, rare hereditary disorders, and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
There are no specific tests for MS . Instead, a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis often relies on ruling out other conditions that might produce similar signs and symptoms, known as a differential diagnosis. Your doctor is likely to start with a thorough medical history and examination.
Can I have multiple sclerosis for years and not know it? Yes. MS can go undetected for years. Research has suggested that many patients experience MS-related symptoms and signs several years before receiving a definite diagnosis of the disease.