MS and Pain - It's REAL and you are not a wimp!
© by Laurie Long
**Editor's note: In looking on the Internet and through the library, I came upon this article. I feel compelled to share it with you and URGE you to print the information and TAKE THIS TO THE NEUROLOGIST UPON YOUR NEXT APPOINTMENT!!! MS pain is real, folks. We are not wimps, lightweights or lazy, although our disease might indicate other assumptions by those who aren't informed about this disease. I applaud Laurie and her compilation and hope you will find it useful! ROCK ON!
Twenty years ago doctors used to say that there was no pain with MS. But these days there is no question from any of the medical community that pain associated with MS is real. Most of the recent studies show that 50% or more of MS patients experiences naturopathic pain -pain caused by problems in the nervous system - sometime during the course of the disease.
So what causes this pain? Demyelinated axons may cause neural impulses to leak out and spread to other adjacent demyelinated fibers. If the adjacent fibers belong to the sensory pathway, these misdirected neural impulses give rise to pain. Trigeminal neuralgia (sharp facial pain brought on by chewing or touch) is an example of this pain, where the motor and sensory branches of the trigeminal nerve short circuit. Nerve cells can also become over stimulated or misfire. This means that an overabundance of pain messages is sent to the brain, causing severe and often long-lasting agony. These types of pain do not respond to ordinary pain medications, which should be avoided, as they are not only ineffective, but also addictive. Muscular and skeletal pain is also prevalent and can be due to muscular weakness, spasticity and imbalance.
Pain associated with MS is divided into different areas, but the most common classifications are acute, sub acute, and chronic pain.
Acute Pain Acute pain syndromes are sudden attacks of pain, often repetitive and lasting anywhere from seconds to hours. Acute pain is usually caused by abnormal conduction or 'short circuit' along demyelinated nerve fibers. Trigeminal neuralgia (see above) is the most recognized acute pain syndrome. Trigeminal neuralgia occurs about 300 times more frequently in people with MS than in the general population. Lhermittes sign (electric-shock sensation passing down the back when the head is flexed forward) and paroxysmal (brief) pain in the arms and legs are also known pain syndromes found in MS. Touch, movement, or even rapid breathing can trigger these symptoms. Acute pain syndromes often occur at the beginning of the disease and are less frequent than the chronic pain syndromes (less than 15% according to Moulin at al, 1988).
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