Why Does MS Affect Your Feet? Many people with MS also have fibromyalgia or arthritis. And both of those conditions can be painful. But sometimes, MS directly causes pain in your feet and legs and may actually damage your nerves.
Neuropathic pain happens from “short circuiting” of the nerves that carry signals from the brain to the body because of damage from MS. These pain sensations feel like burning, stabbing, sharp and squeezing sensations.
Foot drop, or dropped foot, is a symptom of multiple sclerosis caused by weakness in the ankle or disruption in the nerve pathway between the legs and your brain. This disruption means it is difficult to lift the front of your foot to the correct angle during walking.
Medically known as paresthesia, sensory problems are among the earliest MS symptoms, occurring in 20 percent to 50 percent of individuals. These sensory disturbances include increased sensitivity, burning, numbness, and tingling. Numbness, in particular, can cause sensory deficits in the feet.
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.
Abnormal sensations can be a common initial symptom of MS. This often takes the form of numbness or tingling in different parts of your body, such as the arms, legs or trunk, which typically spreads out over a few days.
Surveys for patient pain indicate that the most common pain syndromes experienced in MS are: continuous burning in extremities; headache; back pain; and painful tonic spasms.
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.
People should consider the diagnosis of MS if they have one or more of these symptoms: vision loss in one or both eyes. acute paralysis in the legs or along one side of the body. acute numbness and tingling in a limb.
Here's where MS (typically) starts
Although a number of MS symptoms can appear early on, two stand out as occurring more often than others: Optic neuritis, or inflammation of the optic nerve, is usually the most common, Shoemaker says. You may experience eye pain, blurred vision and headache.
Its early symptoms typically include weakness and tingling sensations in the feet and legs, which can spread and paralyze the entire body. (Weakness to the point of paralysis is the hallmark feature of this condition.)
ms frequently causes fatigue, which can limit walking endurance. ms damage to nerve pathways may hamper coordination and/or cause weakness, poor balance, numbness, or spasticity (abnormal increase in muscle tone). Visual or cognitive problems can also interfere with walking.
Blood Tests: Currently, there are no definitive blood tests for diagnosing MS, but they can be used to rule out other conditions that may mimic MS symptoms, including Lyme disease, collagen-vascular diseases, rare hereditary disorders and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).
How to self-assess multiple sclerosis symptoms. A multiple sclerosis (MS) self-assessment cannot diagnose MS, but it may help a person understand their symptoms and know when to contact a doctor. An MS self-assessment may focus on energy levels, physical sensations, vision problems, and more.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disease of the central nervous system that can affect the brain, spinal cord and optic nerves. Common symptoms include fatigue, bladder and bowel problems, sexual problems, pain, cognitive and mood changes such as depression, muscular changes and visual changes.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
MRI scans confirm a diagnosis in over 90 per cent of people with MS. To get the image of your brain and spinal cord you'll be asked to lie down and enter a small tunnel in the centre of the MRI scanner.
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.
Early symptoms can include vision problems, trouble walking, and tingling feelings. MS affects people differently. But common problems are trouble with movement and thinking, and bowel and bladder incontinence. Medicines and rehabilitation can help to keep or restore functioning.
MS can damage the nerves that affect your muscles. This can cause acute or paroxysmal pain in the form of spasms. Your arms and legs might shoot out uncontrollably and might have pain like cramping or pulling. Nerve pain can also be chronic in the form of painful or unusual sensations on your skin.
These include fibromyalgia and vitamin B12 deficiency, muscular dystrophy (MD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), migraine, hypo-thyroidism, hypertension, Beçhets, Arnold-Chiari deformity, and mitochondrial disorders, although your neurologist can usually rule them out quite easily.