Those who fear ALS would benefit by knowing that bulbar-onset tongue twitching cannot be felt by the patient.
Bulbar-onset ALS tongue twitching cannot be felt by the patient, but are there web sites that make note of this?
How does one discover or come to the conclusion that their tongue is twitching?
Sometimes they just happen to see what appears to be a twitch when maybe applying lipstick or flossing their teeth.
Being that few people have a habit of looking at their tongue in the absence of any perceived worrisome or annoying symptoms, perhaps we should conclude that most people who report tongue twitching initially began feeling something that they concluded were fasciculations.
When a person hunts enough on the Internet for information pertaining to tongue twitching, they will come across a lot of instances in which “tongue twitching” and bulbar-onset ALS are in the same sentence.
Mayo Clinic even lists twitching of the tongue as a symptom of ALS.
Why don’t any of these sites point out that bulbar-onset fasculations CANNOT BE FELT?
I posed this question to Anthony P. Geraci, MD, associate professor of neurology at Donald & Barbara Zucker School of Medicine in New York.
Dr. Geraci says, “I am not surprised that medical sites never point this out: It is a huge complaint I have with the medical profession; they always write about disease and symptoms from THEIR point of view and not the patient’s experience.”
Dr. Geraci is also the director of neuromuscular medicine at Northwell Health in New York.
Lorra Garrick has been covering medical, fitness and cybersecurity topics for many years, having written thousands of articles for print magazines and websites, including as a ghostwriter. She’s also a former ACE-certified personal trainer.
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