Hand Atrophy Pictures

[Confused and disappointed]

That is how my brother in law's hands looked also once his hands were afflicted. He had been misdiagnosed by some idiot Orthopedic surgeon who thought he had Carpal Tunnel syndrome. Carpal Tunnel does not do that to your hands. He had surgery on his hands for the misdiagnosis.

Later on once his ALS progressed, he could barely use his hands to hold eating utensils. He could barely hold food. The atrophy that happens is devastating to the ALS patient, and the loss of using their hands is equally as devastating.

My brother in law passed away this past March, and I wish we had used this forum long before then. It truly is very informative and lots of compassion.

 

[laurel]

I am sorry that you lost your brother-in-law to this horrible disease. I just wanted to mention that other diseases can cause atrophy in the hands. My husband too had Carpal Tunnel surgery--misdiagnosed by the orginal neurologist and the surgeon. Two years later after atrophy and wasting of his forearm occurred (looking much like Al's photos) he was diagnosed with CIDP. The weakness has improved with monthly treatments of IVIG, but he is unlikely to lose the wasted atrophy appearance and lost of function that occurred during the 2 years of damage that occurred after the wrong diagnosis was given. Second and third opinions are a must.
Laurel

 

[Sammantha]

Carpal Tunnel

The very first time i saw a local neuro he was so sure i had carpal tunnel because of left wrist drop and hand muscle wasting. After my first NCV and EMG he prescribed me a wrist brace and sent me on my way! Well i ended up at a university hospital sent by a different doc, and when i requested my EMG test, i found out that the NCV was perfectly normal and the muscle part was all abnormal. This is why i have little respect for neurologist's, but i remind myself that they are human and many of them save lives every day! I keep saying that over and over. I knew i did not have carpal tunnel considering i didnt have a job that could cause it, plus it was in my non dominate hand.

Sometimes it pays to learn about your signs/symptoms and learn what your tests and records say, but sometimes it doesn't........

 

[qwerqwer]

I cannot see the pictures.

qwer

 

[rose]

I cannot see the pictures.

qwer

New members cannot view photos etc, right away. You will have to post some first. I do not know how many posts are needed.

take care :smile:

 

[sisgldnhr]

PALS palm

My husband does have atrophy in his hands but only 1 finger is starting to curl in. Last night he showed me the palms of his hands and there are hard knots in his palms. It looks as if the muscle have bunched up into a hard knots. One hand is worse than the other. It also looks as if his palms are getting really thin. Do any of you have these lumps on your palms?

Sis

 

[BethU]

Hi, Sis ... I don't have hard knots on the palms, but at the base of my thumb (both hands) there is loose skin with nothing under it. It folds up into an S shape when I close my thumb against the side of my hand.

Across the middle of my left palm, there are fairly deep depressions, with ridges between them. The ridges do feel harder than the flesh on the edge of my hand, so maybe these are similar to your husband's. These are much more pronounced in my left hand than in the palm of my right hand, where the depressions are still shallow.

On my left hand, my index finger seems to be "frozen" into a slightly curled position. I can't move it sideways, or touch it to the other fingers, but can move it up & down.

Don't know if these are "typical" ... is ANYTHING "typical" in ALS? ... but it's how it is appearing in me.

Hope this helps ...

 

[brendapals]

here is my hands story:

For the last couple of weeks, every morning when I first wake up, both of my hands have the fingers curled toward my palms. It is painless, and they straighten out usually in about 10 minutes or so.

Over the weekend, I woke my hubby up and showed him what they looked like, and he said "what, what's wrong, I don't see anything wrong, just straighten them out"- hahaha

But that's the only time they do it, as of now,
take care,
brenda

 

[rose]

Brenda

Hands.... I'm not understanding this (actually there is a lot in life I don't understand)...my fingers curl up on both hands so that the relaxed position is always a loose fist. I guess they didn't use to to this. :?:

I can open them and force them to be all the way straight, but when I relax, they curl right back up. Its a smooth automatic movement like a screen door that has a spring hinge to close it. Is this what you mean, or do you mean that you can't voluntarily straighten your fingers for the first few minutes? .

Plus, now that I'm sitting here checking them out, I've found that I can't bend my thumbs very much ~ which is kind of backwards to what is happening to the rest of my fingers. The left one bends much less than rightie. I can move my thumbs, just not bend them very far..... maybe this is just age related

 

[brendapals]

you are too funny,

Mine just feel sort of "locked" for the first few minutes in the early morning. Take for instance now, I woke up at 5am, didn't actually get out of the bed til about 10 minutes ago, and my fingers are working fine.
But when I first woke up, they were all "curled" toward my palms. Probably not the best description in the world, but that's all I can think of. lol!
take care,
brenda

 

[sisgldnhr]

[It folds up into an S shape when I close my thumb against the side of my hand.

Across the middle of my left palm, there are fairly deep depressions, with ridges between them. The ridges do feel harder than the flesh on the edge of my hand, so maybe these are similar to your husband's. These are much more pronounced in my left hand than in the palm of my right hand, where the depressions are still shallow.

On my left hand, my index finger seems to be "frozen" into a slightly curled position. I can't move it sideways, or touch it to the other fingers, but can move it up & down.

Don't know if these are "typical" ... is ANYTHING "typical" in ALS? ...]

Beth,

Your hands sound very similar to Don's. The only difference is the ridges have turned really hard. Don's pinky finger is frozen into a half curl position and it will not uncurl.

"is anything 'typical' in ALS?..... wow, thats a tough one to answer.

I'm going to take some photo's of Don's hands & try to post them on here. I'm just so glad that his hands aren't hurting him. His neck, shoulders, back, are hurting him daily. He said it feels like his shoulders are going to just snap. From what I've read, I think he's experiencing 'shoulder freeze'. He's been taking Flexiril, which seems to help some with the pain.

Thanks for sharing whats happening with you Beth...........Sis

 

[gbrown]

Curling Fingers

From one of the posts on this thread I ordered some of the Oval-8's finger splints and I love them. I wear them at night and they keep my fingers from curling during the night. I love them and would recommend them to anyone who has a curling finger problem.
Gordon

 

[awieleba]

ROSE~

Hey there, quick question. When you say that you cant bend your thumbs, do you mean becuase pain? When I bend my toe, it hurts really bad, I can bend but if feels swollen or something. I have the same thing with my thumbs. I can bend but they hurt at the upper joint when I do it?

I find that I put my hand in a fist while awake alot, it makes my hands feel better. It is not really while sleeping or resiting, just while awake it feels good to do that? strange.

Dont most people have their hands in slight loose fist positon? I guess it is one more thing I will be looking at on people!

Take care and I wish you the best!

 

[rose]

April,

No, my thumbs don't hurt, they just don't move much (bending) They're pain free & its the second joint that doesn't bend.... I can't cross it over my palm either. ... I've been doing some crochet projects for Christmas, but the thumb really doesn't need to do much other than clamp onto the yarn or hook, so it wasn't until I read this thread that I became that aware of the changes... I do have a hollow in front of the wrist bone at my hand, and some thinning in the fleshy part of my left thumb, but rightie seems good. :smile:

If both of your toes on either foot, hands, etc hurt at the same time, I was told my my rheumatologist(s) that this is a sign of autoimmune response. Its a major indicator, because in just about everything that affects the joints, whether it be pain, swelling, inflammation, weakness, its usually asymmetrical unless its rheumatic...

 

[awieleba]

thanks Rose!

My pain is in my thumbs and toes the most and with pinkie's. It is more just my left side, ie. left toe and thumb but right thumb and not so much rt toe.

anyway, thanks for all your info!