My hand is numb. Is it MS again?

Oh, no. Not again. I woke up in the wee hours of the night and realized one hand was completely numb. Even though I was awake, this single paw was still asleep. Did multiple sclerosis cause this?

It’s happened before. MS has knocked out the feeling in one hand, one foot, or another random body part before. It’s not uncommon for that to happen to an MSer. And the feeling usually returns at some point. Maybe it takes a few minutes, a couple hours, or even several days. But it always seems to come back.

I shook my hand a little. I tried to wiggle my fingers. They worked. I made a weak fist, and my hand started to tingle.

Those are good signs, I thought.

Still, my hand was asleep. And it felt cool to the touch. I groaned and wondered: What’s this all about?

I quickly considered several possible reasons for this strange loss of sensation in one mitt. Surely it wasn’t a stroke, a spinal cord injury, or another particularly scary occurrence.  I hadn’t caught frostbite in the night, huddled under my cozy quilt. I was pretty sure I had not suddenly picked up carpal tunnel syndrome while sleeping.  I don’t have diabetes, Raynaud’s disease, Lyme disease, or another potentially numbing disorder – except MS.

Did MS make my hand go numb while I dozed?

I clicked on my bedside light and looked at my hand.

Aha! There’s the culprit.

I had a spare hair tie looped around my wrist, which must have swollen somewhat while I slept. I slipped the band off and spotted the ring-like indentation in my skin.

Sometimes there really is a simple explanation.

Now, that’s a relief – this time around.

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