Dr James Le Fanu: 8 March
The symmetry of the human body is very striking. The muscles, ligaments, bones and nerves of the left side are the precise mirror image of the right, although there is no anatomical connection between them – which makes one reader very puzzled.
She has been troubled over the years by carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in both hands – where a ligament across the bones of the wrist compresses the nerve running beneath it. This causes pain, tingling and weakness of the small muscles, making it difficult for her to pick up a bag or do her sewing.
Much to her surprise, soon after her left hand was treated with a small operation, the symptoms of CTS in the right hand disappeared as well. How could this be, she wonders?
This is indeed curious; though, on reflection, perhaps no more so than the symmetry of rheumatological and skin disorders that frequently involve the same joints or the same patch of skin on the left- and righthand side simultaneously. This would suggest that the two sides must be linked together by some ‘force’ unknown to medical science. The practitioners of acupuncture have, of course, claimed this for thousands of years, which is why Western doctors find it so difficult to acknowledge its efficacy.
There is another precedent in the phenomenon of referred pain where, say, scratching an itch on the right forearm may produce a stabbing pain above the waistline on the left side – as recently described in the New Scientist: ‘The more I scratched, the more intensely I felt the sympathetic stabbing to my back.’
This itch/pain has a name: mitempfindungen – from the German mitempfinden, ‘to sympathise with’. It was first described in 1773 by the English cleric and physiologist, the Rev Stephen Hales. Its mechanism remains unknown, which goes to show that scientific concepts of how the body works are not as complete as is commonly supposed.
THIS WEEK’S MEDICAL QUERY comes courtesy of a London reader who, while quietly having breakfast, experienced a searing pain pass through her tongue. Ever since, whenever she eats, she suffers this uncomfortable pain at the back of the tongue, which passes down her throat. ‘It does not last long,’ she writes – but it does detract from wholeheartedly enjoying a meal.
This stabbing pain is called glossopharyngeal neuralgia and is caused by an irritation of the sensory nerve of that name, which enervates the mouth and tongue.
For most, the cause (as with the similar trigeminal neuralgia on the side of the face) is something of a mystery, though it can be due to the pressure of a blood vessel on the nerve, which can be relieved by an operation. With luck, it should resolve with time and meanwhile, the drug Tegretol can usefully reduce the frequency and intensity of these painful spasms. drjames@lady.co.uk
She has been troubled over the years by carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in both hands – where a ligament across the bones of the wrist compresses the nerve running beneath it. This causes pain, tingling and weakness of the small muscles, making it difficult for her to pick up a bag or do her sewing.
Much to her surprise, soon after her left hand was treated with a small operation, the symptoms of CTS in the right hand disappeared as well. How could this be, she wonders?
This is indeed curious; though, on reflection, perhaps no more so than the symmetry of rheumatological and skin disorders that frequently involve the same joints or the same patch of skin on the left- and righthand side simultaneously. This would suggest that the two sides must be linked together by some ‘force’ unknown to medical science. The practitioners of acupuncture have, of course, claimed this for thousands of years, which is why Western doctors find it so difficult to acknowledge its efficacy.
There is another precedent in the phenomenon of referred pain where, say, scratching an itch on the right forearm may produce a stabbing pain above the waistline on the left side – as recently described in the New Scientist: ‘The more I scratched, the more intensely I felt the sympathetic stabbing to my back.’
This itch/pain has a name: mitempfindungen – from the German mitempfinden, ‘to sympathise with’. It was first described in 1773 by the English cleric and physiologist, the Rev Stephen Hales. Its mechanism remains unknown, which goes to show that scientific concepts of how the body works are not as complete as is commonly supposed.
THIS WEEK’S MEDICAL QUERY comes courtesy of a London reader who, while quietly having breakfast, experienced a searing pain pass through her tongue. Ever since, whenever she eats, she suffers this uncomfortable pain at the back of the tongue, which passes down her throat. ‘It does not last long,’ she writes – but it does detract from wholeheartedly enjoying a meal.
This stabbing pain is called glossopharyngeal neuralgia and is caused by an irritation of the sensory nerve of that name, which enervates the mouth and tongue.
For most, the cause (as with the similar trigeminal neuralgia on the side of the face) is something of a mystery, though it can be due to the pressure of a blood vessel on the nerve, which can be relieved by an operation. With luck, it should resolve with time and meanwhile, the drug Tegretol can usefully reduce the frequency and intensity of these painful spasms. drjames@lady.co.uk