You can see your whole finger tremoring each time it twitches and are wondering if the jumping is more likely to mean ALS than if you didn’t see any movement.
Have you ever felt a finger twitching, then looked at it and discovered that the entire finger jumps or tremors with each twitching episode?
When this happens it’s often, perhaps usually, the index finger.
But this complaint — that of seeing the entire finger move (tremor, jump) — is also often of the thumb.
It can actually happen with any finger: pinky, ring, middle.
What typically happens is that you first FEEL the twitching or sudden little tremors that last briefly.
This makes you look at the finger.
Then it twitches or “tremors” again – and you see the whole thing moving. This makes you think of ALS because you can see the action.
The visible movement is described as either that of twitching, tremoring, jumping or jerking.
The visibility of it makes many people worry that it’s more likely ALS, when compared to twitching that cannot be seen.
When the visible jerking happens, the rest of the hand and other fingers remain still. It’s just that one finger doing its dance.
You continue watching for it to happen again, and sure enough, it does, and you can’t help but worry sick it’s ALS.
I have written many articles on the ALS fear, featuring a number of neurologists and other medical doctors answering my questions.
Anthony P. Geraci, MD, is one of those neurologists. He is associate professor of neurology at Donald & Barbara Zucker School of Medicine in New York.
I interviewed him for my article, “Visible Muscle Twitches: Why You Can See Them, What It Means.”
For that article Dr. Geraci explains, “A trap you don’t want to fall into is excessive worry simply because you can see a muscle twitch.”
Sure, you’ve heard the phrase, “Seeing is believing.” But there’s no such thing as “Seeing means higher likelihood of ALS.”
The phenomenon of an entire finger moving during twitching is not a sign of increased likelihood of ALS.
Dr. Geraci in the article also says, “Seeing a muscle twitch rather than feeling one has no meaning at all and is no cause for concern.”
But if you also feel it along with see it, that too, is no cause for alarm.
I’ve seen my entire index finger twitch. It’s like a tremoring – tiny little fast tremors.
Anthony Geraci, MD
Yet I continue being able to deadlift heavy amounts of weight, and believe me, anyone who’s ever deadlifted heavy barbells knows how crucial the use of an index – or any finger – is for this exercise.
Here is the entire article featuring Dr. Geraci.
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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Top image: Shutterstock/Bankoo
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