Hirayama's Disease

[josephblayil]

Hi All,

I am 25 now and have been diagnosd as a Hirayama patient @ 21.

I did some ayurvedic treatment in India and it was not very bad I would say. I didn't loose any muscle after that for 2 years while doing the treatment

But now me in USA and in this this cold climate here i'm having lot of issues.

My ring finger, baby finger and area between thumb and index finger are mostly affected.

i' doing lot of exercise, weight lifting and all, but nothing seems to help.

I just want to make sure from you guys, what are the best practises to be folowed?

Like can I do weight exercise, is it good if do some phisiotherapy??

Your inputs are greatly appreaciated,

Thanks
Joseph

[wastingaway]

hi joseph,

i PERSONALLY have found winter to be the period in which my hands do most of their deteriating. im not sure what it is about the cold but my hands hate it with a passion. i had my surgery last summer and afterward i started to regain small bits of strength only to loose it PLUS more during the winter. i ride motorcycles so maybe the constant riding during the summer helps condition the muscles. ive had this disease for about 3 years now with no sign of it subsiding..i use a neuro stimulator to try to help but im not really sure how effective it is. i guess my only advice is to try to keep your hands as warm as possible, i know this sounds obvious but if your hands are like mine the cold can really take a number on them.

also a side note, this site underwent maintenance a few months ago and afterward 2 posts were missing on this thread. one from a guy who is studying neurology who was also inflicted with this disease and one from me giving a website that talked about similair symptoms of somebody's brother from a post above. if you did not get to see the link before the 2 posts dissappeared let me know and i will try to find it again.

good luck guys, i hope one of us finds a way to beat this...until then keep livin and enjoy life!

[wastingaway]

also, i think above you asked if physical therapy was a good idea. ive been going to it every week for a little over a year now. while mosts of the stuff you can do on your own, they DO help you come up with exercises to target certain hand muscles whichi s nice because i would not think of some of the things myself. i dont know, ive kind of just adapted to the condtion. even though my finger strength is weak i can still do MOST of the things i use to..i just do them a little different..for instance i shift goofy on my bike because i cant use my finger strength to pull the clutch lever in. once it is in though i can hold it with my finger strength, its weird actually now that i think about it. id say if u still have enough strength to lift weights you should. i use to love working out. i was never a huge guy, but my friend and i lifted every day trying to be lol. i stopped lifting though after a while because i was afraid id hurt myself. i dont really trust my hands like i use to haha

[josephblayil]

Thanks guys for the quick resposes.

So that means I have to be very careful during winter. My condition is not very bad now. But now i'm afraid of the winter here. Its my first year in US. The condition in India is entirely different. i will try to stay away from cold and use glouses.

Also if you can forward me those 2 missed out links that will be great. I joined the forum last day only.

But for the last 4-5 years i was feeling isolated kindof i'm the only one with his desease. Now that i found you guys i'm happy. that we can atleast share the Best practises and get know any updates on this in medicine.

Also one question. My understanding is that this deasese will stop @22-23 age and after that muscles wont wasten again. Is that correct? Anyone who has this desease for long time had the wastening got stopped atleast stable?

Wering a cervical collar will help only if you do that from 18-22. when you have the wastening goes on right? now that we dont need to wear that right?

Thanks again for your time.
Hope we will be able to see atleast one among us get rid of this and that will be the happiest moment for me.

Thank You
joseph

[josephblayil]

Hi guys,

Did any of you guys used heating pads or anything to increase blood circulation and did it help?

I'm planning buy one as winter is approaching.

Please advice

Thank You