Weakness in Hands
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June 13, 2006 at 6:11 am
My wife was diagnosed with GBS in Jan of this year. She had plasmaphereis and IVIG treatment. She is able to walk now with a walker but her hands are recovering very slowly. She is not able to open her hands or fingers. Has anyone else had this problem? She does wear wrist braces and does exercise for her hands and fingers but it is very slow. Thanks.
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June 13, 2006 at 6:39 am
hi steady & welcome,
hands & feet are the last to recover. passive pt should be used to slowly stretch open her hands/fingers even if if you have to slowly pry them open on your own. they will close again but keep at it. pain is the limiting factor. she sounds like a normal gbser, whatever that means. gbs stands for Get Better Slowly. keep us posted on this thread so we have a running history of her. take care. be well.
gene gbs 8-99
in numbers there is strength -
June 13, 2006 at 10:11 am
It can take a very long time for the hands to recover, as there are so many small nerves there. I had all but given up hope after 26 months (I have CIDP) then all of a sudden I was able to get back to about 80% usage. I can now do everything I need to do with them. Just try to be patient.
Pam -
June 13, 2006 at 11:20 am
Hi steady,
As others have expressed, time is the great healer. It’s importent though, that the tendons are worked to keep plyability. Also streatch the skin webbing between thumb and index finger. That skin will shrink, if not already, and will limit range if nerves do recover. Same with the tendons. If you loose playability, no matter what nerve return there is, range will be reduced. Every knuckle in each finger needs to be ranged, along with the whole fingers and wrist areas. You can lay your hand palm down like on the arm of a chair, and push from elbow forward, rolling each knuckle under towards the palm, going back and forth while watching TV, as an example. Keep at it.
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June 14, 2006 at 7:31 am
Hi
I also had somewhat similar problem. My hands were very weak but slowly improved afterwards. Whatever the residual of my suffering from GBS, are the weak hands. Due to the weakness in hands, initially the Doc had disallowed me to drive the car and after subsequent thorough examination three months later, he permitted me to do so.
But please be sure that there will be an improvement as the time passes.
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June 14, 2006 at 8:14 pm
I had the same problem, still can’t type as before, but as everyone says, give it exercise and time.
Peggy
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June 19, 2006 at 9:14 am
Like everyone said, it takes time. And that’s the hard part. Time.
Now, I am almost 13 years GBS/CIP and I still have problems with my hands and feet. Everyone is different.
Hang in there! -
July 19, 2006 at 5:02 am
[QUOTE=QueenDuchess]Like everyone said, it takes time. And that’s the hard part. Time.
Now, I am almost 13 years GBS/CIP and I still have problems with my hands and feet. Everyone is different.
Hang in there![/QUOTE]I’M A 6YR. GBS & STILL RECOVERING SLOWLY. I’M STILL IN A WHEELCHAIR, HANDS, ARMS HAVE MOVENT. BUT WRIST & FINGERS HAVEN’T RECOVER YET. IT’S MONOTNESS W/THE RANGE N MOTIONS & EXERCISES BECAUSE WHEN U GET UP THE NEXT DAY THEY’RE STILL STIFF & HARD. YES, I GUESS TIME WILL TELL……….MAHALO!
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July 21, 2006 at 8:47 am
Hi Steady. My mom is @ 21 months post GBS diagnosis. Still has stiff hands with minimal grip. Just beginning to have enough control to push a button, like on elevator, using a knuckle. It helps to keep the range of motion going. We lather on lotion and massage her hands, stretching as pain will allow. Here’s a helpful hint – I’ve found that when I remind Mom to think about opening her hands, they open much more easily. It’s like the nerves respond to the thought even if they aren’t strong enough to do the actual movement. Hope that helps.
Katy
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