question about atrophy

Status
Not open for further replies.

wickie

Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2012
Messages
12
Reason
Learn about ALS
Country
US
State
alabama
City
leeds
I am noticing what could be atrophy on my left hand in the muscle between my thumb and index finger. The indention is a lot larger than the one on my right hand. I have more what feels like loose skin there as well. And when I lay my hands flat the muscle is larger on my right hand. Could this be atrophy? I have not noticed any weakness in the hand but I am still concerned. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
How old are you!?! Which hand is dominant? Please think logically about this. You would have profound weakness with atrophy. Your fine motor skills in your hand would be very much lacking. One side of your body will always be more muscular than the other side.
 
I am 36. My right hand is dominant. I know that my left hand is weaker than my right, always has been. And yes i completely understand that I should have some weakness before I see atrophy. I can grip things, twist lids off of jars, hold things and I can squeeze the hand muscle thing I have. And I will be honest I do not know if my left hand has always been this way or if it is a new thing. I noticed it the other night when I was holding a book. I just wanted to know if it was possible to have atrophy without any noticeable weakness. I almost have myself convinced I ca relax and go back to my normal life. I never knew how hard it could be mentally to do that. Thank you for responding.
 
CJ,

According to earlier posts, she has a 17 y/o child so I'm guessing between late-30s to mid-40s.

Wickie,

I have atrophy in both my hands, left about 3-4 months ahead of the right. They'd been weakening and changing for some time before the doctors noted the atrophy. I didn't notice it myself at first. In fact, I thought it was just an oddly inflamed tendon on my palm. It wasn't that, instead simply missing muscle. No pain so much as an odd sense of loss. Getting coins out of my purse is a little like a fumblebum show now. The clinical weakness is very specific to a set of intrinsic muscles and there's no getting around it. We don't know what's causing it yet, nor how fast it's progressing. But the good news is that the odds of it being ALS are next to nil.
 
Well, that sucks that you have weakness and atrophy in both hands but that is great that it is more than likely not ALS. I have pain in my fingers but not really in my hands and none where I think there might be atrophy. But like I said I have not noticed any weakness. Do you think what I described sounds anything like atrophy? It has probably always been there and I just never noticed it. I hope they can pinpoint what is going on with you soon and I hope whatever it is it is good news.
 
There is no way anyone here can possibly answer your question ( again). Go and see your doctor. You will get your answer straight away.
You are spending too much time examining yourself due to your preoccupation about your health.

Atrophy should come with weakness.....think about it. The muscle is not working when it's atrophied, so the mechanism of the part affected is also affected.
 
My husbands atrophy didn't show up untill a year or so AFTER his weakness started.
 
Mine either. My Neuro had to point it out to me.
 
My husbands atrophy didn't show up untill a year or so AFTER his weakness started.

Exactly! We had no clue!

The atrophy doesn't happen til way down the road.
 
My Dad didn't live long enough with the disease to ever see atrophy in his hands, though he had been unable to open a water bottle for about year. He was using a walker before the atrophy was obvious in other parts of his body.

My own two hands do not look exactly the same. The right has always been larger, stronger and more coordinated than the left (normal). The skin all over my body, including my hands, is becoming looser every year (every day in microscopic measurements) and it is losing the elasticity at different rates on different body parts (normal). I sometimes drop things (normal). My fingers hurt, get twitchy at times, and get tired and achy when I work in the garden, get my period, or the moon is full (normal). I do not have ALS and, thank God, it sounds like you don't either.

Please see a medical professional if you believe that your loose skin and hand size is not normal.
 
same here---atrophy was months after the mega weakness.(and so was twitching)
 
I'm glad the topic was brought up. In a weird round about way you helped clear some stuff up for me. I keep looking on the internet for info about how long it takes from the start of denervation till the muscle atrophys. My axonal neuropathy started in my right foot and leg, and I kept expecting that the calf muscle would look more wasted by now (my thing is slow moving, about 4 yrs). My right calf is smaller than my left calf by about 3 inches around, but it's not that obvious. Being overweight does not make it easy on the MD's when it comes to normal and not normal. Recently the denervation was found in my hands and forearms, the only thing I notice is that my hands ache between the fingers, and my knuckles at the base of each finger look larger (more prominent). It is one of those subtle things only someone who sees their hands all day might notice. They are not that weak yet, only soda bottle issues. I guess they are good to go for a while yet.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top