Why does my left arm shake sometimes?

Have you ever been standing in line at the grocery store, minding your own business, when suddenly your left arm decides it’s time to have a little jiggle? Or perhaps you’re holding up that big important presentation and all of a sudden it looks like there’s an earthquake happening in just one arm. It can be embarrassing, unnerving, and downright frustrating – but what does it mean when your left arm shakes sometimes? We did some digging to get you some answers.

The Anatomy of A Shaky Arm

Before getting into possible explanations for why your left arm might decide to start shaking (terrifying), let’s first take a look at how muscular movement is even accomplished in the first place. Believe it or not (or believe it because I wouldn’t lie on the internet), the human body is incredibly complex! Nearly every bodily system has to work perfectly together to carry out simple everyday tasks like raising an arm or winking suggestively at someone across from us.

When we move our arms (or any part of our body really), our musculoskeletal system carries out two main processes: contraction and relaxation. And this involves multiple players including nerves, muscles (duh), bones, ligaments…the list goes on!

The process begins with brain neurons sending electrical signals down through branching nerve fibers called axons until arriving where they need to connect with muscle fibers — yes, like finger prints no neuron connection pathway will be similar between people. Once there these neural junctions are known as neuromuscular junctions which release neurotransmitters stimulating the muscle fibres causing them contracting (that’s sort of cool isn’t?) , pulling whatever bone needed closer towards each other!

How exactly do nervous impulsions perfect themselves so particularly? Well my friend we don’t quite know yet!() But if something interrupts this complicated process anywhere along its journey from axon to muscle, your shaking arm might be the result.

Possible Causes of Arm Tremors

So what exactly could be interrupting that smooth journey of signals from our neurons all the way down to our muscles? There’s actually quite a long list of potential culprits. Here are some common explanations for why you might experience left-arm tremors:

• Essential Tremor
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
• Stroke
• Stress or Anxiety

Let’s take a closer look at each one:

1) Essential Tremor

Essential tremor is essentially (?) just involuntary trembling. It can occur in both arms and isn’t limited by age (just like Netflix account sharing). It can become more apparent during certain activities such as holding an object(like when people see me wiping out on my skateboard) but may also happen regardless! The actual cause behind essential tremors remains unknown although it does have a genetic component.

Other body parts’ movement aren’t generally affected unlike ‘Parkinsonian Trimmers’.

2) Parkinson’s disease

While not commonly associated with hand/arm movements, Parkinsonism/ Dystonia often cause rhythmic spasmodic contractions , which affect different parts of the body including head, eyes face and yes even arms!

Symptoms develop slowly over time include resting trembiling ;slowed movement; rigidty accompanied with stiffness; disturbances in posture/balance along intellectual impairment/ memory difficulty – often associated with depression/anxiety . Now that should make anyone begin worrying about tiny little harmless quivers here and there right?

3) Multiple sclerosis (MS)

Muscle weakness and impairments accompany symptoms relating to MS while limb shake occur less frequent (phewww)! These abnormal neurologial responses target various areas along spinal cord giving rise to many diverse symptoms such as loss coordination/balance/bladder bowel function/muscle movement.

MS’ symptoms affect not only arm shakes but overall health as well (maybe that gift toy thing with the closing lid wasn’t such a good idea).

4) Stroke

A severe disruption in cerebral circulation which causes involuntary movements ,weakness, facial drooping or speech impairment along “senseless”(meaning they have lost sense of feeling on half side of their body including limbs) paralysis can occur post stroke – and are common reasons for hospitalization amongst elderly groups.

The initial feeding pathway disruptions must be identified to avoid paralysis!

5) Stress or Anxiety (Psst…I Believe This is Me…Sometimes)

Our sympathetic nervous system acts – often referred to our ‘fight or flight mode’- helps us out during perceived dangerous situations by increasing heart rate/contractility, breathing fast because more oxygen must reach/muscles needs adjusted blood flow for response. Yet sometimes this decrease harmonious signals between your brain and muscles resulting in uncontrollable hand tremors !(Gasp) Although these random occurrences most likely do NOT indicate any serious neurological conditions it may warrant seeing a doctor if very frequent!/annoying/grossly interfere in daily activities!

Conclusion: To Shake Or Not To Shake?

We hope we’ve reassured you somewhat (!) about some of the reasons why your left arm might shake from time to time. Bottom line? It could simply be nothing at all! Of course every once-in-a while per our own individual neurology everyone might “wobble” off balance . If anything’s changed besides just one lonely limb shake however it’s important you see your GP immediately ;identifying possible diagnosis improves prognosis; administering timely medication etc.

Regardless though, try not let those trembling moments bother you too much – life itself oscillates quite often enough anyhow!

KEYWORDS

Essential Tremor
Parkinson’s Disease
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
Stroke
Stress or Anxiety

Axons
Nerves
Muscles
Bones
Ligaments
Neuromuscular junctions
neurotransmitters
sympathetic nervous system