Hand Numbness

[whwiechm]

Doctors tell me I'va had MS for about 50 years, but I don't understand one symptom that I have. I can not feel things with my finders, I need to see that a pill I dropped is between my fingers when I pick it up because I can't feel it. However, I can feel a gnat landing on the back of my hand. If my MS is affecting the nerves in the CNS, I would think the same nerve pathway would be for both sides of my hands. I'm sure the nerve branches out as it approaches the hand, but within the CNS, the main nerve pathway would affect both sides. This sensitivity is true of both of my hands.

[lbenmaor]

I am so sorry you are going through this.

My prayers are going out to you!

[starlight5]

That sounds very similar to my foot numbness, the numbness is deep but beneath the surface and I can feel a fly land on the skin. I think it is fairly common.

[NorasMom]

I don't even try to figure it out. I've lost partial feeling all over my body, but the degree of it varies all the time. Earlier today, I was flinching because a fly kept landing on the back of my hand. That's the same hand I was watching closely, because it was holding a lit cigarette that I couldn't feel between my fingers.

The bottom of my feet can only feel large or sharp objects. The top can sometimes feel a bit of dandelion fluff land on it, although my toes don't feel much of anything. I jumped when my dog's tail tickled my ankle, but I didn't notice the inch-long splinter another time until it got infected several days later.

I've just begun thinking of my CNS as a wild animal. You never know when it's going to attack.

[kdali]

The 3 nerves for hands branch out from the cord at different levels (C1 to T1, or something like that, it's really long). Sensation is at the back of the cord. Lesion size and position probably have a lot to do with what signals get missed down the line. Here's a map of the hand nerves:

Hand nerve map

[NorasMom in reply to kdali]

Thank you! I don't suppose you could expand on this and give us an anatomy lesson about the nerves?

[kdali in reply to NorasMom]

I understand little, and less than I should 😵‍💫 Anatomy is all mapped out in books and meaningless to me if there's not a broken part to play with, so I can SEE it. MS does not make much sense to me 🤷‍♀️ Sensory here, spasticity other there, a foot drop and an wonky eyeball? Nah, that's wild stuff! 🤯 Definitely ask a neuro to clarify what your specific issues could be from! We even have MDs here, maybe one of them can properly educate us 🙏

Here's how I make sense of what nerves can do:

In the factory of nerves, there are different job sites for each nerve to provide its product...sensation, movement, and proprioception (knowing where your body part is if you close your eyes/can't see it). Each nerve has this team. The sensation team can be slowed or shut down by demyelination, while the other two may keep on working. It's a lot more complicated than this, as there may be overlap between nerves (so some teams may be pitching in to get a job done) or some of these things wax and wane 🤷‍♀️ but this is as far as I can make sense of it.

Neuro games:

If you have ever had the pin prick/cotton ball test, sensation is what is being checked out. When you hold your arms out and close your eyes, there are several things that can be checked here, from sensory and motor. Same for looking around and shining the light in your eyes, or walking in a line heel to toe. Neuro games can be very useful for understanding big problems, but the best information for MS, I believe, is how these games are performed in over time. 🤷‍♀️ Yes, some MD's do not do these games, but I'm just throwing that in, in case you wondered why your MD was stabbing you, mashing on your toes, or asking you to do strength tricks 🤣

[goatgal in reply to kdali]

Thank you! It's interesting to see the web of nerves in the hand. It answers so many questions!!

[kdali in reply to goatgal]

I'm glad it helped! I like colorful pictures 🥰

[Amore55]

I have to be careful with certain tasks, because I don’t have full feelings in my hands. For example, I have been doing a LOT of canning over the past few months and I have to be mindful about the steam from the canner. If I am not careful, I will be burned before I know it. Also, ironing is another activity in which I must be very cautious. I’m convinced that the nerves are just connected in a jumble of places, it’s the only explanation I can think of that explains why I can feel the slightest touch on the back of my hand when I don’t expect it, but can’t feel that splinter you gave the example of! Perfectly true for me.

[goatgal]

You certainly aren't alone! I used to love embroidering but can no longer feel a needle, and a gnat can bite my wrist unnoticed...until I begin to itch (for hours). I constantly burn the tips of my fingers because the signal for heat isn't immediate. There are many of us in this boat!

[ahrogers]

I too, have this. I have decreased sensation of different levels pretty much over my entire body. It also affects temperature sensation. I get lots of bruises that I did not notice bumping that area. I often feel a hair or something else small on me though.I do have several lesions on the posterior cervical and thoracic cord. I believe these are the culprits. I had these at time of diagnosis so no idea on how long I had it before symptoms started and I was diagnosed.

Just another MS symptom to find a work around. I have to take warmer showers otherwise the water feels cold. Also, need more visual cues to make up for decreased sensation.

[mollybufford]

Along with the numbness my fingertips are overly dry. I can't snap my fingers or turn a page. Really aggravating. Grrrrrrrrrrrr

[NorasMom in reply to mollybufford]

Oooooh. I never thought of fingertips. At one of my jobs we had to clock in by fingerprint. Mine wouldn't work half the time, and they even set me up with multiple fingers, but the results were always the same. They determined that it was because my skin was too dry.

[Goldilockssearching in reply to NorasMom]

I had to get fingerprinted for a job in a school. Police officer couldn’t get them. We were laughing. I told him I guess I’m all set to steal something bc they wouldn’t find my prints. He also said “dry hands” & used a bottle of corn husker oil to no avail. My fingers also don’t work on my phone often either bc it doesn’t sense it or I multi click.

[Fancy59 CommunityAmbassador]

My entìre hands, front and back, are numb. The numbness exteņds through my wrist and goes up to my elbows. My feet are also numb. Along with the numbness in my hands and feet and wrist and elbows there is also tingling involved. I take neurotin for the tingling. Sometimes it can get so bad, it becomes painful. Along with the numbness in my hands is the fact that I have no tactile sensation. Everything I touch feels like sandpaper. My hair, material, furniture, my face all feels like sandpaper. Go figure! You are certainly not the only one suffering from lack of feeling and numbness in your hands. It makes you wonder if all this happens in the first 25 years that I've had MS, what's the next 10 to 15 years got in store for me. Fun, fun.....keep prayìng for a cure! Fancy59.

[sashaming1]

Sounds like MS but talk to a Neurologist.

[Goldilockssearching]

My palm often lacks light sensation. Not good for pill taking bc I don’t even realize I’ve dropped them.