CLOSED HANDS HOLDING ITEM SKIN

These symptoms occur when MS affects the pathways in the central nervous system that control coordinated fine hand movements. You might have difficulty with activities such picking things up, maintaining a hold on items, have difficulty writing or buttoning clothing, or have trouble controlling eating utensils. Fine-motor skills may regress or disappear. One major symptom of MS in the hands is a loss of dexterity.

These problems may start slowly and worsen as nerve damage progresses. At times it can be difficult to determine if a symptom is being caused by problems in the central or peripheral nervous system and special evaluations may be required to sort this out.Д¬onduction of the signals to and from your brain are slowed or halted by the lesions described above, producing symptoms such as tingling, numbness, pain, problems with hand-eye coordination, tremors and/or muscle weakness in your hands.

CLOSED HANDS HOLDING ITEM SKIN

The peripheral nervous system consists of the nerves after they leave your spinal cord and travel in nerve bundles to either your muscles or sensory receptors in the skin and organs. MS does not affect your peripheral nervous system like diabetes or other conditions, although your peripheral nervous system is required for normal sensation and movement. When this happens, the nerves cannot conduct messages to your brain as well as they should because either some or all of the neurons within the nerve have been damaged or are not functioning optimally. It is like getting a fuzzy signal on a television set. Specifically, when the myelin sheath is damaged but the axon remains, the electrical conduction of the neurons is changed. When someone has MS, inflammation can either damage the neuron or axon directly or strip off the myelin sheath (which is like a protective coating, like the skin of an orange) around the axons and cause the neuron and axon to stop functioning normally. These neurons need to work properly for your central nervous system to function effectively. Neurons are specialized cells with elongated processes called axons that process information and communicate with other neurons and muscle. How does MS create these problems in your CNS? First, understand that a nerve is composed of a bundle of neurons. In MS this tremor can be dramatic, and the personвЂ™s arm will go up and down significantly as they attempt to touch their nose.ДЄll of these problems are caused by MS interfering with either the incoming sensory signals, the coordinated response to these signals between different parts of the central nervous system, the outgoing signals to your muscles to create a movement, or a combination of these problems. An example of this impairment for someone with MS might be developing a tremor when trying to touch their nose with a finger. If the messages sent to or from your brain (central nervous system) are impaired, there will be a loss of sensation, strength, dexterity or a combination of these problems. This is particularly true of movements in the hands and fingers that require a high level of dexterity and complexity. In fact, all movements and actions require different forms of sensory input or feedback to accomplish the action well. In this example it is clear that the action (the hand removal from the stove) is directly linked to the pain you feel. Your brain (central nervous system) takes over and automatically sends messages back to the parts of your body that will quickly remove your hand from the hot stove before you are even fully aware of being burned. If you touch a hot stove, the nerve endings in your hand send a message to your central nervous system (spinal cord and brain) telling your brain that you need to remove your hand quickly. What does this mean with regard to hand dexterity, coordination and strength? A simple example is the complex reflex that occurs when you encounter something painful. The function of the central nervous system is to receive sensory information, such as smells, tastes, sounds, sights and tactile information, through special receptors and respond to this information with a thought or an action or both. вЂ‹Multiple sclerosis can impact hand dexterity, coordination, and strength because of the effect it has on the brain and spinal cord, the two interconnected regions that together are called the central nervous system (CNS).

Closed hands holding item