L’hermitte’s sign – A symptom of Multiple Sclerosis

L’hermitte’s sign or L’hermitte’s syndrome is a sudden sensation resembling an electric shock that passes down the back of the neck and into the spinal column and can radiate out to the fingers and toes. It is sometimes referred to as barber’s chair syndrome.

L’hermitte’s sign is an example of neuropathic (nerve) pain, which is caused by areas of damage that disrupt how the nerves carry messages within the brain and spinal cord. Sometimes the brain interprets the disrupted messages received from the nerves as pain, even though there is no physical cause of pain.

L’hermitte’s sign is rarely treated as the pain is so sharp and sudden that it does not usually last long enough for pain treatments to take effect.

The symptom is named after the French neurologist Jean L’hermitte who publish the seminal article on the subject in 1924.