3 People with Multiple Sclerosis Share How They Manage Their Spasticity

By Sara Lindberg

Medically reviewed by Jessica Ailani, MD

Being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis can, naturally, have an enormous impact on your life. You may need to make some lifestyle changes and try a few treatments to help manage the various symptoms, including spasticity. Spasticity is a common M.S. symptom, especially as the disease progresses.

Spasticity can happen when the nerve pathways in the brain and spinal cord that govern muscle function become compromised in some way, which is typical of M.S. When this occurs, muscles contract involuntarily, often leading to abnormal tightness, spasms, and pain, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. Because spasticity produces painful, uncontrollable spasms of extremities (especially the legs), performing daily tasks like walking or even standing can seem near impossible at times, especially during M.S. flares when symptoms get worse.

While there is no cure for spasticity or M.S., a treatment plan tailored to your needs can decrease symptoms, improve mobility, and contribute to a better quality of life. Below, ishonest spoke to three people with M.S. about how spasticity affects their lives and how they manage the symptoms.

1. “I’ve had to become aware of triggers, individuals, and environments that create stressful situations.”

To help with spasticity, Grant relies on medication, yoga poses, stretching, and taking Epsom salt baths to relax her muscles as well. She also has found that supplements like magnesium provide some relief for her symptoms. (Magnesium deficiency can bring about muscle cramps or spasms, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, and there has been some research into how magnesium supplementation may affect spasticity in people with conditions like M.S., but much more research is necessary.1) Grant also swears by an acupressure mat that provides massage and much needed relief daily.

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She’s also worked to reduce her overall stress levels, which can of course be easier said than done. To help with stress, she likes to incorporate meditation, journaling, and creating boundaries with individuals and environments as necessary. “I believe multiple sclerosis is both a mental and physical battle. It can definitely feel overwhelming trying to heal your mind and preserve your body’s quality of life, but there’s hope and resources to help you on your M.S. journey,” she says.

2. “I am always afraid of having a bad flare and experiencing stiffness and numbness.”

Moyna John, 30, was diagnosed with M.S. at the beginning of 2020 after severe eye pain and blurry vision sent her to the eye doctor looking for answers in 2019. Her eye issues were just the beginning. What followed was an initial flare that left her feeling numb from the top of her toes to underneath her breasts, which ultimately led to an M.S. diagnosis on the first day of 2020.

It took over three months for John to regain mobility. Now, her spasticity flares sometimes make her legs go numb. When that happens, John usually loses mobility, and her husband helps her move around their home. Depending on the severity, she says these periods can last for a few days to months. “It is very frustrating,” she tells ishonest. “I am always afraid of having a bad flare and experiencing stiffness and numbness.”

To cope, John uses compression socks that go up to her knees and a heating pad to temporarily reduce some stiffness and numbness caused by spasticity. If she’s feeling really stiff or getting a lot of discomfort, she will do yoga. She also finds that staying in a positive mental space through meditation can help her. But unfortunately, nothing provides any long-term or permanent relief, and John has to endure the discomfort until it subsides.

3. “So far, exercise is what works the best for me.”

MS Positive founder Mayteé Ramos, 44, was diagnosed with relapsing-remitting M.S. in 2015. Like many others with M.S., Ramos is very familiar with the painful and often debilitating effects of spasticity. For Ramos, spasticity feels like tightness on her right arm and torso and, most recently, on her ankle. It restricts the natural movement of her arm and affects her grip and the ability to maneuver objects between her fingers. It also makes her fingers curl. “Sometimes spasticity can be painful, especially on the torso area, if the muscles are too tight. It also causes a painful inwards bend of my ankle that has deviated the natural alignment of my right foot,” Ramos tells ishonest.

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When her spasticity symptoms first started, Ramos took medications to manage the symptoms. “Although they worked, they made me sleepy, and I felt dysfunctional because I was out of it most of the time,” she says. Between these and other symptoms, she decided to instead try to manage spasticity with exercises. “I do a lot of stretching, chair yoga, and strengthening exercises with weights. So far, exercise is what works the best,” she says. Ramos also uses a portable massage gun to release areas of tension when needed. Another thing that helps her, she says, is Theraworx, an absorbing foam that targets muscle spasms with the active ingredient magnesium sulfate. “I apply it on my calf and ankle before going to bed,” she says.