![]() Some patients find relief with topical lidocaine. An antidepressant such as Elavil, can help as well, as it modifies how the central nervous system reacts to pain. Those include anti-convulsants like Neurontin, Trileptal and Lyrica.Ī muscle relaxer, such as baclofen, also may be helpful, Dr. No medications address the MS hug specifically, but because it’s linked to hypersensitivity of damaged nerves, doctors may prescribe drugs that stabilize the irritated nerve membranes. There’s no specific treatment, and people who experience it deal with it in a variety of ways. MS hugs may develop as a symptom of an MS relapse or flare-up and may be worsened by fatigue, heat, infection, stress or overexertion. Not everyone with MS experiences the MS hug, but some 15 to 20 percent of people with MS report painful spasms, and 25 percent or more report dysesthesias, abnormal or unpleasant sensations, according to Dr. Other people describe a band of burning pain that comes and goes. Some people describe a boa constrictor-type squeezing that is almost constant. The MS hug, a type of pain associated with MS that goes by the medical term dysesthesia, feels different for each person. Some people feel the sensations in their hands, their legs and feet, or around their head. It ranges from “annoying” to “very painful,” and can last a few seconds or persist. The brain may respond to the signals with a mix of sensations that include tightening, tingling, burning, stabbing pain or an electric-shock-like feeling. Rather, the sensation is caused by lesions-or scarring from MS disease activity-affecting the sensory pathways in the spinal cord. “The pressure can be so intense at times that taking a deep breath is difficult.” And yet no actual tightening is taking place. Other people describe a band of burning pain that comes and goes,” explains Mary Alissa Willis, MD, associate program director of the Mellen Center for MS at the Cleveland Clinic. “Some people describe a boa constrictor-type squeezing that is almost constant. Her mother, who was acting as her care advocate, explained the possibility that the intense chest pressure and stabbing sensations between Richardson’s ribs were actually from an “MS hug”-and proceeded to educate the bewildered hospital staff on what that is. “They started administering baby aspirin, ordering nitroglycerin and running an electrocardiogram,” says Richardson, who has had progressive multiple sclerosis since childhood. Photo courtesy of Erika RichardsonĮrika Richardson, 47, of Green Cove Springs, Florida, twice experienced pain and pressure in her chest so extreme that emergency room doctors suspected she was having a heart attack. Her mother told the hospital staff about the possibility that the intense chest pressure was from an MS hug. The following sections contain medical criteria that apply to the evaluation of impairments in adults age 18 and over and that may apply to the evaluation of impairments in children under age 18 if the disease processes have a similar effect on adults and younger children.Erika Richardson’s experience with the MS hug twice put her in the emergency room. ![]() Listing of Impairments - Adult Listings (Part A) Revisions to Rules Regarding the Evaluation of Medical Evidence Disability Evaluation Under Social Security
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