When to Call Your Doctor About a Multiple Sclerosis Flare

A flare-up of multiple sclerosis (MS), also known as an attack or a relapse, is when you have new MS symptoms or the worsening of old symptoms. 

Flare-ups are caused by inflammation within the central nervous system (CNS), which is made up of the brain and the spinal cord. This inflammation damages myelin, which is a protective sheath that coats your nerve cells. When this happens, your nerve impulses are slowed down and you may have symptoms of MS, such as vision difficulties, weakness, numbness, or balance problems.

When should you call your doctor about an MS flare-up?

If you think you’re experiencing a flare-up of your MS, you should contact your provider and let them know.

“I always tell my patients to contact me with any concerning symptom, anything, especially if it’s lasting,” says Asaff Harell, MD, Neurologist and Director of the Multiple Sclerosis Center at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

If you are indeed having a relapse of your MS, it means that you’re experiencing new inflammation in your CNS, and that may be creating new lesions or scars. Other times, Harel says, you can have fluctuations in your symptoms that may seem like you are having a relapse, but you actually don’t have new inflammation.

That’s why it’s important to check in with your provider to make sure that your symptoms are actually related to MS. 

“Just because somebody has MS, doesn’t mean that there couldn’t be other things going on,” says Dr. Harel. 

Mild vs. severe MS flare-ups

If you’re having a more mild flare-up of MS, you might experience a little bit of numbness without any weakness or incoordination. Your ability to carry out your everyday activities might not be affected. In this case, you may not need any treatment, and the flare-up may go away on its own.

But if you’re having a more severe flare-up that does impact your physical functioning, Dr. Harel says you could benefit from treatment with corticosteroids, which helps decrease inflammation, as well as physical therapy. 

What should you do if you are having frequent MS flares?

If your MS flare-ups are happening frequently, it could be a sign that your current treatment isn’t the right fit for you.

“We have a lot of different options as far as preventative therapy goes,” Dr. Harel says. “If one doesn't work as well as we’d like, there are other options that we can escalate to, and this is the good thing about the modern era.”

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Written by:

Marisa Taylor Karas

Marisa Taylor Karas is a freelance journalist based in Brooklyn who has covered health, gender, and technology for 15 years. She previously worked at The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and Al Jazeera America, among other publications, and also served as managing editor of the Mellon Foundation in New York City.

Reviewed by:

Alexandra Schwarz, MD

Alexandra Schwarz, MD, is a board-eligible sleep medicine physician and a board-certified family medicine physician. She is a member of both the AASM and the ABFM.

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