Where do you feel Lhermitte's?

[comet6]

Can anyone tell me, does Lhermitte's sign have to be felt down your spine ?

I have had numerous neurological symptoms over the last 5 months. My family doc suspects MS but the neurologist thought I was a puzzling case. I've had several blood tests, brain and spinal MRI's, Evoked Potential & EEG. I am waiting for follow-up on all these tests with the neurologist the end of Sept (ahhh the waiting game!!!!).

Most recently I had electrical shocks down my torso (like a lightning bolt). One shock was down my right FRONT side and the other time more in the centre near my heart (separate occasions). Wondering if this is Lhermitte or just another electrical shock (I also get them in my arms and legs periodically). There was no pain afterwards. Like most of my symptoms, they seem to be momentary.

I also experienced a couple electrical shocks on my face. Is this Trigeminal Neuralgia? Again, no after pain... just a momentary shock.

Thanks, I appreciate the comments. The internet is an amazing source of information. But nothing beats experience/advice from real people!!!!

[lemstar]

L'Hermittes is felt when you look down, chin to chest sort of thing. I feel mine down my spine, into my legs and hands, but only when I look down.

[Redwings]

Can anyone tell me, does Lhermitte's sign have to be felt down your spine ?

Hi comet6:
"L'hermitte's sign" isn't a generic term for any feeling of electric shock, any time, anywhere. By definition, L'hermittes sign is an electric shock feeling that travels down the spinal column, and possibly out into the limbs, when the head is bent forward, chin flexed downward into the chest. If you picture the position your head is in when the person cutting your hair tells you to bend your head forward so they can cut the back part, you can appreciate why it's also sometimes referred to as the "barber chair phenomenon."

So, because L'hermitte's sign is the name given specifically to the shock that runs down the back when the head is flexed downward, L'hermittes must be felt down the back, initiated by flexing the head forward. (So yes, it has to be felt down the spine, but some people feel the shock more in their limbs without much feeling in their spinal column.) Any other electric shock is still a shock, but it isn't L'hermitte's sign.

As an aside, L'hermitte's sign is a misnomer. L'hermitte's is a symptom, not a sign (although what a person might be seen doing when experiencing L'hermittes certainly is ). But it's by no means the only thing in medicine that's somehow misnamed. My personal favorite is "coronary heart disease."

[comet6]

Thank for your very thorough explanation! I can't actually remember what I was doing when it happened. But given that it wasn't down my spine, then probably not Lhermitte's.

I have so many varied symptoms. I feel like I have to keep a note book with me all the time so I don't forget what I was doing, where exactly I felt it and how long it lasted!

Thanks!!!

[BigA]

I'm not a hypochondriac, but I once went to the doctor for a skin flap in my armpit, thinking it was something extraordinary. I'm the kind of person who notices everyting new. This is why when my hands and feet started to go numb, my doctor told me it was in my head and I knew it wasn't.

Years before, when I started feeling L'hermittes some time ago, I thought it was kind of neat and never brought it up to my doctor. Funny, that.

[billiejeane]

I'm not a hypochondriac, but I once went to the doctor for a skin flap in my armpit, thinking it was something extraordinary. I'm the kind of person who notices everyting new. This is why when my hands and feet started to go numb, my doctor told me it was in my head and I knew it wasn't.

Years before, when I started feeling L'hermittes some time ago, I thought it was kind of neat and never brought it up to my doctor. Funny, that.

Can someone with a dx of ms never experience this? and my lesions are in spinal cord as well as brain but i dont think i have ever had this one.