Monday, December 22, 2014

Leg Issues in the Cold with MS

For the last year or so my wife's MS has caused her Right Leg to stiffen during Cold Weather.  She can literally walk outside and if it's cold enough, her leg will go stiff and she almost has to swing it to walk.  She's only had this issue in the last year, and we think we finally figured out why.  We lived in Colorado for a short time last year and she fell twice.  Both times she fell flat on her tail bone and come to find out she cracked her tail bone.  Since that time she's woke up almost daily with her hands or feet tingling and then had her Leg stiffen and other minor Tingling in her body.  It finally hit us this last week at the Chiropractor that we hadn't really addressed that issue so we talked to our Chiropractor about it.

Well, the Chiropractor started doing some testing and not only were her hips twisted but her tail bone was off so the Chiropractor adjusted all of it.  When she was adjusted it initially shot pain through her and she was worried that it may do more harm than good.  But, after she was adjusted and left the Chiropractors office she began to notice some major differences.  For the first time in almost a year her hands and feet were almost completely back to normal, and her back felt much, much better.  I encouraged her to go back multiple times last week to keep everything in alignment so she went back 3 times and was going to go back a 4th today but she overslept.

It still amazes me that MS can mess with her body so much, and from a fall over a year ago she is still having issues.  Now that we've figured out what caused the issue, it will be easier to fix.  My wife had literally bought different pillows and tried other things because she thought one of those was the culprit.  I guess I say all of this to say that you never know how a fall or injury or other trauma might affect your Multiple Sclerosis.  My wife's MS has been badgering her for over 24 years now, and we are still learning.  Oh, if your legs stiffen in the cold you may try thermals because that's what my wife's been doing the last few weeks.  Once she had the thermals on her leg didn't stiffen up as bad and she could still walk OK.

I guess the question I would ask any MS patient is, have you had any Injuries in the past that could be causing some of your problems?  Have you had a bad fall, car wreck, skiing accident or some other injury?  I know that my wife is extremely sensitive to any changes in her body and her MS lets us know quickly if anything is wrong by exacerbating.  Leg issues seem to be common in MS, but I really think there are ways to combat the problem without Meds.  She's been MS Drug free from the beginning and for the most part I think my wife does amazing.  She's definitely stronger than I think I would ever be having to deal with MS daily.  We are still determined to get her health better and better, and have a Ski trip we want to go on in 2015 and already have a Cruise planned that I know she will need to be in great shape for.  What are you doing in 2015 to fight back against this crazy disease?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I was diagnosed with MS in 2007 with what they thought was the relapsing-remitting type. After going through three neurologists, it was finally decided that I had the primary progressive type. My right leg is my weak one and probably one of my very first symptoms was my right leg getting 'stiff" in cold weather and me having to drag it or walk like Frankenstein. That symptom continues to be an issue. Thank goodness I live in a southern state and our winters are on the moderate side. I went back and read you post on leg problems with MS. Lately my legs hurt all the time and my right leg buckles at times and I feel as if I'm going to fall. I enjoyed reading all the comments on that post. Thank you for this blog. Please continue it. I wish your wife the very best as we fight this disease together.