Too much – too much – about multiple sclerosis (MS) focuses on our legs. The EDSS (Extended Disability Status Scale) assessment that many of us know as a way of measuring disability progression in general is in fact exclusively about our legs.
A test of how far we can walk (with or without assistance) and how fast we can go is often the way many MS neurology appointments begin.
In many cases, once someone has come forward to need a wheelchair to get around, insurance won’t cover items of treatment — physical therapy and occupational therapy, for example — because the paperwork limit has been exceeded.
Related: All about MS mobility aids
When our legs don’t work, we use our hands and arms
Here’s the thing, though: For people who have lost most of the function of their legs, arms, and hands had become Their legs, literally (if operating a wheelchair) and figuratively (as the next major group of limbs they rely on for strength, exercise, and independence).
Even if a great deal of movement is retained in the legs, those of us who use walking aids—such as canes and canes, forearm crutches, walking frames, and pulleys—rely heavily on the strength and agility of our hands and arms to get around.
At the MS Ireland conference in September 2018, I heard many great speakers. One of them, Gavin Giovannoni, MB BCh, Head of Neuroscience at the Blizard Institute in London, spoke on the topic of preserving and strengthening our hands and arms beforehand in case of potential limitations on the legs, as well as afterwards.
Certainly, Dr. Giovannini has been preaching the importance of the upper limbs for a long time The hashtag #ThinkHand became something.
Related: 6 Hand Exercises for Multiple Sclerosis
It’s time to focus on mobility, not just leg function
For people facing progression of their disease or persistent weakness or numbness in their legs, or those who have lost use of those limbs due to MS from the start, maintaining dexterity and ability north of the equator is of utmost importance.
However, many medical insurance plans don’t approve of medications or other treatments to help keep us mobile after our legs no longer move us.
If we are no longer able to progress towards something we need, we must be able to reach it. If we can’t get from point A to point B, it’s our arms that get us there.
If we take our health seriously and can no longer use the treadmill to increase our cardiovascular rate, it will be our upper body that does the work.
Our legs our legs and our arms our arms. But for those who haven’t used their pins, our arms be our legs.
I wish you and your family the best of health.
cheers,
trevis
my book, the chef cutavailable at Amazon. follow me on Life With MS Facebook page and on Twitterand read more Life with MS.
