Upper Body Health Also Is Important for People With MS 4.7 (38) My left hand was numb and weak when I was first diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. For years after that, symptoms above my waist seemed just as prevalent as those below it. Yet, there were no tests being used that measured my waist-up disability level — nothing equivalent to the Expanded Disability Severity Scale (EDSS) that neurologists have used for decades to measure the level of disability of people with MS. The EDSS rates people on a scale of one to 10 and is heavily weighted toward the ability to do things that require using your legs. But MS isn’t only about walking.