Coordination and movement disorders

Muscle cramps, muscle weakness or stiffness (spasticity) affect several people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Many patients, especially in the advanced stages of the disease, experience muscle weakness that can make it difficult to walk. Find out how to best take care of your muscles.

Muscle weakness in MS

As you clicked through these pages, a simple press of your finger on the mouse or screen activated a series of muscles from your fingers to your shoulders. Our body is made up of more than 600 muscles that constantly contract and stretch to help us control our movements, from small actions such as typing to big ones like jumping into a pool.

Damage to the nerves that control the muscles can, over time, lead to muscle weakness. This can be exacerbated if muscles become deconditioned through lack of use.

Typical signs are:

• Uncoordinated movements of the arms or legs (ataxia): ataxia concerns on the one hand fine motor skills, i.e. targeted movements of the hands and fingers, and on the other hand the muscles of the legs and thus walking and balance.
• Tremor: tremor is the medical term for shaking or trembling movements of varying strength, usually in the hands. Hand tremors occur in particular when you want to make targeted movements, for example when drinking from a glass.
• Fine motor disorders, for example when writing or grabbing small objects.