Understanding PPS
Post-Polio Syndrome (PPS) is a neurological condition that can show up years after someone has recovered from polio. You may start to notice new or worsening muscle weakness, tiredness, and pain. This is not a return of the virus, but rather a long-term effect of the original infection.
Even though you have recovered from polio, the virus may have damaged many of your motor neurons (the nerve cells that help muscles move). Your body tries to adapt by making the surviving neurons work overtime. For a while that works, but after years of doing extra work, those nerve cells can start to wear out. That’s when the symptoms of PPS begin.
Common PPS symptoms include:
- Tired all the time: Ongoing chronic fatigue, both general and in your muscles.
- Muscle weakness: Muscles that were affected by polio can get weaker again, and sometimes muscles that weren’t affected before can also become weak.
- Aches and pains: Muscle pain, spasms, and discomfort that often get worse with activity.
- Joint problems: Stiff, achy joints (similar to arthritis).
- Muscle shrinking: Some muscles may start to shrink or waste away (muscle atrophy).
- Trouble breathing or swallowing: If certain muscles get weaker, they can make it harder to breathe or eat.
- Sleep issues: Pain, weakness, or breathing problems can affect your sleep.
- Feeling hot or cold easily: Many people with PPS are more sensitive to hot and cold temperatures, sometimes with pain or colour changes in their hands or feet.
- Harder to get around: Walking might become difficult, and some people need walking sticks, crutches, orthotics, or even wheelchairs to stay mobile.
If you’ve been diagnosed with, or think you may have, post-polio syndrome (PPS)