Dents and Atrophy

[kit]

This information is being provided as a sticky topic from another thread. I have placed this here so that those with questions will have easy access to this information and will hopefully be able to allay and fears or worries.
Kit

This goes for everyone on this entire site and will serve as a public service announcement as there seems to be a definite trend You have dents and alterations in the contours of your body. One side will always be different than the other side. The things that everyone seems to be noticing are normal anatomical landmarks that you have likely had for years. They may be more or less prominent due to:
water weight
exercise
muscle mass
handedness - right hand or left hand dominance
work activities - repetitive actions etc
crossing your legs
wearing heels
wearing flats/athletic shoes
age

God has created these little dents and grooves in our bodies to serve as an area for nerves to pass without entrapment, as a place for tendons to sit, because He decided that the placement of the muscles/bones would function better.

The reason we notice these little normal anatomical differences is because unfortunately with this condition we are constantly self testing or looking to evaluate and reevaluate if there has been a change. Trust me if you really examined one side of your face compared to the other you would be shocked to note that your eyes are not the same size, your lids may not open to the same amount that your jaw is not in the midline, that one nostril is larger than the other, that there are more wrinkles on one side that the other and that your hair is thicker on one side of your head than the other.

Please, please please, trust me when I say this to you as I have instructed many student doctors on this....when there is a true pathologic difference in ANYTHING, we do not have to squint our eyes and examine and reexamine. It is quite obvious and comes with a whole plethora of other symptoms and complaints. Unless you are very familiar with anatomy, you are not in a position to question the little dents because likely they are quite normal. Medicine is quite logical and the bad stuff, it follows a pattern. So in this instance before you panic as to whether or not a dent on one side of your body is something awful, please remember:

When you hear hoofbeats, you should always assume horses first. Never expect zebras or worse yet, flying unicorns.

Please know that I am not trying to be mean or sarcastic but offering this in an effort to help allay the fears of many people.
Kit

[Christina]

Thanks Kit, I am sure that post will help put a lot of people at peace.

Christina

[basso]

Great article, Kit. Very well written and thought out from someone who is an expert in anatomy. It should be required reading for all when coming to this site. Some kind of pulse beam should be developed that actually forces people, against their will, to open up this article and read it continually until it sinks in; an electronic version of being hit over the head with a nerf bat. Sinister, yes...but it is for your own good, dammit.

I do have a question though... I actually am in a position of having a perfectly symmetrical body...should I be worried?

Basso

[Capital H]

God has created these little dents and grooves in our bodies to serve as an area for nerves to pass without entrapment, as a place for tendons to sit, because He decided that the placement of the muscles/bones would function better.

Kit

Ah but, (having just posted about it now) the dent in my left arm is not little it is (relative to me anyway) "ginormous" and it's not just the loss of muscle mass in my hand it goes all the way up to the elbow. Matching loss of strength of course, I am typing now and I can feel the difference between the two hands when I do it. Don't think I would be able to shift the keys on that old mechanical Underwood typewriter I learnt on anyway, (not that it still works anyway)

I'm not that bothered now, cos it is absurd to worry about it being anything other than it is. Nerve damage and I long ago stopped being angry about it although I do still feel that if it had have been recognised earlier it might not have got to the state it did. It would be cool if someone could come up with something that would let those connections regrow, and who knows maybe they will.

Anyway you are right we are none of us perfect and most of us assymetrical. I recently did a presentation at a disability conference, puts things in perspective when you see what some of the other keynote speakers have to deal with, one speaker spends all her time lying on her back, little mobility at all, but she was enjoying life. As for me, I created a bit of a sensation when I stripped off my shirt to reveal my uneven shoulders, man boobs and all three nipples

[jro]

Capital H,

Do you have a firm or even tentative diagnosis for your problems? I ask because I do not remember you mentioning anything specific before but you say that if they had done something earlier you feel you might be better off. What is that something you think might have been done? I am doing nothing but feel my nerves are constantly under attack. I wonder to if I should be doing more sometimes.

jro

[Capital H]

Yes it's chronic ulnar nerve entrapment, if I had have had an NCV test sooner, indeed had been referred to a neurologist sooner (I saw a rheumatologist first) I would have had an operation sooner, with a greater chance of success. The operation was not very successful. I have got the same problem in my neck now, I think the solution to that one is strengthening the neck muscles to take the pressure off the spine. The biggest problem to me is the loss of grip in that hand.

Other than that, I am doing fine. The trouble with this forum is that everyone here twitches, and then they see a dent somewhere, and put two and two together and make five. I was just as bad, a complete nervous wreck when I joined this forum, once I got the tongue twitching and that tongue tied feeling I thought I was a gonner. Thing is the arm is nothing whatever to do with that at all, it was it's own problem and common enough if you are unlucky enough to suffer from it.

I think people have a tendency to lump any number of symptoms they are suffering together and think they are all the same thing, when they really need to be separated out.

[jro]

Capital H,

Thanks for responding. I have been told that sometimes things could be unrelated too and that adds to the difficulty of diagnosis. I have had a constant twitch in my left hand (but I get it randomly in my right). I also have the twitches in my tongue. I tend to think all my stuff is related because it arose in the same four week period and has not stopped in almost two years. I appreciate your positive attitude and the very fact that you are another tongue twitcher that does not have ALS gives me great comfort. The tongue thing is just too surreal. I still cannot believe it happens to me yet it does every day at least a couple times sometimes more. It is hard to be a fierce advocate for yourself sometimes with this stuff because going to the doctor constantly and disagreeing with them creates a lot of stress and that stress is also not good for your. Yet, you do not want to have regrets that you did not do enough. I guess there is no perfect solution only doing the best you can and trying not to be too hard on yourself if you later feel you did the wrong thing.

jro