MS weakness and MS fatigue are not the same thing. However, some would argue that multiple sclerosis weakness and fatigue are strongly associated. The distinction between the two lies in the fact that MS fatigue is a term encompassing a wide range of symptoms, including physical symptoms and cognitive symptoms. In comparison, MS weakness is far more restrictive. It refers specifically to multiple sclerosis muscle weakness, the weakness that strikes the muscles of MS patients as the disease progresses.
Multiple sclerosis weakness manifests in the patients’ muscles. However, it arises from problems within the nerves. Because the nerves are damaged by the degenerative demyelination processes associated with MS, some of them can no longer transmit messages to the muscles well. Hence, the muscles act more feebly than they otherwise would. Any attempts on the part of MS patients to use their muscles consequently require overexertion.
Understandably, this exhausts the patients. It could ultimately lead them to give up on certain tasks or activities because they know that they will exhaust themselves before accomplishing their goals. Patients who give up in this way often end up adopting minimally-active lives. Consequently, they do not use their muscles enough to exercise them, and their muscles begin to atrophy. Unfortunately, this means that their muscles become even weaker than they were before.
The actual muscles affected by this form of weakness are determined by the specific areas of nervous tissue affected by MS lesions. Hence, the weakness may manifest differently in different patients. The weakness may primarily strike one side of the body or it may strike both sides. In some patients, it is walking that is affected. In others, manual tasks are most affected. In yet other patients, bowel movements are affected as these also involve muscular movement.
Multiple Sclerosis Leg Weakness
Multiple sclerosis leg weakness is particularly noticeable because it affects patients’ mobility. A patient with weakness in either one or both legs will experience difficulty maintaining balance and walking. The patient’s gait will consequently be greatly affected. Unfortunately, if the muscles are allowed to weaken progressively, they will ultimately atrophy, resulting in the patient’s disability. To avoid this outcome, it is important for patients to continue performing muscle-strengthening exercises. Such exercises, targeted specifically to the affected muscles, are superior to vigorous aerobic exercises as they do not result in the patient’s exhaustion. Additionally, it has been shown that the use of nutrients such as methyl-B12 under medical supervision can help promote the regeneration of damaged nervous tissue. This would help repair at least some of the MS-associated lesions and restore function to some of the nerves that regulate muscular movement.
