Muscle Atrophy?

Hello, I am new to all this. I am 39 years old pretty healthy and active. One of my best frriends aunts passed away a year ago at age 56 with ALS. I thought I had a great grandpa that passed away with it at age 81 but my mother confirmed with one of his kids, my great aunt, that it was a form of neuropathy. I have to say that I own a commercial cleaning company and use my hands a lot. For about a month I have had this weird sensation in my hands and wrists. Currently for the last several days my wrist has been extremely sore and more than likely ostearthritis developing. I had DeQuearvains tenosynovitis about 2 years ago. I kept working through it not knowing what it was and probably did damage to it.

Fast forward to today and I have noticed that on my Right hand in the hypothenar area on the bottom left of my palm a difference when it is rested and then when I extend my fingers and hand out. I saw my PCP and he sent me to a neurologist. He did an EMG of both arms. I have an appointment to get my results on May 8th. Basically they make me spend another copay and deductible to have to come back. Ugh. After he performed the EMG, I said to him, I know you cant give me the results until the 8th but you know my fear. He said I cant see one thing in it that shows ALS in any way. That I can tell you.

I didnt find this muscle thing until after the EMG. he didnt stick a needle in that particular muscle during the test. He did do the nerve conduction on all my nerves in the right arm. I am right hand dominant and do use my hands for work every single day. Commercial Cleaning is all hand labor. This past Sunday at softball I hit 2 homeruns and hit another last night. Im not trying to pride myself but i can say my strength still seems to be there.

Does this look like muscle atrophy. Once again it looks somewhat normal when I rest my hands and then when I extend them outward and down a little I get that difference. I have been going to a chiropractor and see said that you have over done it with your muscles and tendons. Any help would be great.

You've been cleared of ALS, you have no weakness to speak of, therefore no atrophy. If only your arms were tested, it would have detected damage in your hands. ALS isn't just atrophy, it's a whole host of other issues as well.

That's great news for you.

Take good care.

Were your ALS advanced enough to show actual atrophy, which is caused by dead/dying nerves, your EMG would have screamed "ALS".

Lucky you!

Bye!

Hey guys thank you so much for the reply. I wont have my results from the EMG until the 8th. He said he wouldnt be able to tell me what it is I have until it kicks out all the data but he said he didnt see anything that would be ALS. Something about how both arms didnt show differences. Honestly I dont know.

I mean im sure he was looking at everything as he was doing the test. I guess its just nerve racking not knowing what could be causing this.

wcats9698 said:

...I guess its just nerve racking not knowing what could be causing this.

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Well, it's not ALS, so there's nothing we can do for you.

Stay the hell off of Dr Google until you see your doctor.

Atrophy, which you do not have, is not an initial symptom. Atrophy is the muscle wasting that occurs when a muscle no longer works. In much the same process by which muscles can grow bigger from training. When a muscle stops working from disease or injury it wastes away. Sort of like an arm seems to wither after wearing a cast for 8 weeks. So you hit 3 homers in 24 hours? That sure as shit does not say ALS to me.
Vincent

I got the results from my EMG the moment the test was over. It indicates immediately whether you qualify for having this wretched disease. There's no waiting for results.

Patricia Ann said:

There's no waiting for results.

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There was no wait in your case.

Don't assume we all follow the same path.

Patricia Ann, you've kinda jumped in here with no intro (Newly Diagnosed) with your Bio saying "I have been diagnosed with ALS."

Maybe you can share with us your "Journey" (as we used to call it) how, where, when and by who got you to a diagnosis of ALS.

Post it on the Newly Diagnosed sub-forum.

Apologies for throwing my opinion in there. I was doing some research and came across the conversation.

Where is this Newly Diagnosed sub-forum you suggest I go to?

PA, near the top of this page, you'll see a red "reply" button. Immediately above it, press on the link "ALS/MND Ground forums. This will present a new page, listing a whole lot of subforums. "Newly Diagnosed" is second from the top.

So, in order to participate, you want me to go to Threads in Forum : Newly Diagnosed and create a description of how I came to have ALS? Just want to understand what to do.

Patricia Ann,
Yes, that would be nice just so we get to know you. It’s not a requirement. You can say whatever feels comfortable to you.

Patricia, just to clarify, when you jumped in with a comment about your own path to diagnosis, it was potentially confusing since you had not posted an intro yet, so we didn't have a path to refer to, if that makes sense.

Quite frequently, people will click on your name to see your previous posts -- it is a good way to get some context.

Welcome!

Best,
Laurie

Thanks lgelb andKarenNWendyn.

BTW, I love Airedales!