Backwards L'Hermittes?

[jdcatt]

This is probably going to sound just plain silly but here goes. Bare with me. :-)

I've put my chin down toward my chest several times over the past several months checking for any signs of L'Hermittes sign and felt nothing.  I began experiencing a vibration in my lower left leg and foot in October and I'm now feeling it in both arms and legs as well as the hip groin and lower back region. Here's the weird part that may sound silly in regards to L'Hermittes. When I put my chin down toward my chest the vibration stops. As soon as I lift my head back up to it's normal position the vibration comes back.

I didn't notice this until about an hour ago so didn't get to mention to my neuro during our visit today. I've lowered my head several times in the past hour and the vibration stops everytime. It's so weird that I can lower my head and my legs stop vibrating! He did order an MRI for my cervical spine because of the vibration I'm experiencing so I'm really looking forward to the results of that. I go in Tuesday.

This has me wondering now if I have a problem with my cervical spine that I just haven't been aware of. I thought that putting the chin down is supposed cause a sensation not stop it but I actually don't know for sure so thought I'd ask. I'm trying to figure out if this is a spinal cord issue or something else in my neck.

Thank you in advance for any information on this! :-)

-JD

[sllowe]

Hi there,

The sensation you are experiencing is a symptom of something - what exactly is always the question. Have you brought this up to your doctor/neuro? If the doc does indeed label it lhermittes, he/she should work toward identifying the cause.

A little background on me is that I googled it when my doc 1st called mine lhermittes. I read the online definition and said to myself, this doc has no clue what he's talking about - this is not me. I've learned since then what those of us experience does not often meet the definition neatly.

In the meantime, please jot this down, avoid making it happen best you can. It's not typically painful, but it's uncomfortable. I avoid putting my head down to keep it at bay. Since yours is when you head is upright, you have to mention this to your doc and get a thorough exam.

Shell

[jdcatt]

Hi and thank you for answering. I had the same thought about how bending my neck forward could be relieving some pressure that may be causing the vibration.

I've been looking up cervical spondylosis and stenosis tonight and think I may be onto to something but have not found anything stating that vertigo could be a symptom of those.

Off to research some more! Thank you!

[jensequitur]

I think basically any movement of your neck that causes a change in sensation counts as L'Hermitte's.  It sounds like you're relieving the pressure on your neck that's causing the vibration.