Describing Sensory Issues
How do you describe a physical feeling that no one can see or experience but you?
I deal with a lot of sensory issues in my new MS life. These “invisible symptoms” bother me every day in some capacity, but the severity isn’t always the same. I’ve talked a lot about the unpredictability of my symptoms, and these kinds of symptoms are no exception. Sometimes, I don’t really notice them, and other times they are practically yelling in my face. Most of the time, these sensations happen in my legs and feet – rarely, they creep up into my left arm and hand.
One of the weirdest parts of managing these issues is attempting to describe them to others – with the goal of making the other person understand.
Usually it goes like this:
Them: What does it feel like?
Me: You know that feeling when you pick up snow with your bare hands, and then you go inside and run your hands under hot water? And it’s like this burning sensation?
Them: Ooooohhhhhh…
As time has passed and I’ve lived with these pesky feelings, I’ve had lots of time to think about how to describe them. Here are some of my go-to descriptors:
- It feels like firecrackers going off in my legs.
- It feels like spindly branches brushing against my arms.
- It feels like running cold hands under hot water.
- It feels like a heating pad that’s getting too hot.
- It feels like a zap from accidentally touching an outlet.
- It feels like pins-and-needles.
- It feels like an ice pack on bare skin.
Finding an optimistic side of these weird symptoms is tough – all I can come up with is that it reminds me that our bodies are fascinating, complex, intricate machines capable of doing unbelievable things.
MS Friends: Do you experience sensory issues? How do you describe them?
