Clumsiness

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* You suddenly become clumsy for unexplained reasons.

* You have difficulty seeing clearly.

* You have numbness, tingling or loss of feeling in your hands or feet.
What Your Symptom Is Telling You

Somewhere in all of us, a klutz lurks.

We're all clumsy to some extent. It just varies from person to person," says Robert Slater, M.D., an assistant professor of clinical neurology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. "For the average person, a normal amount of clumsiness might be one or two awkward incidents a day. You might tip over a glass or bump into a doorway on any given day," Dr. Slater says. "On the other hand, if you bump into the doorway half the time you try to go through it or you knock the same glass over three times in a row in quick sequence, that may be cause for concern."

If you find yourself being more clumsy than you normally are, it could simply be a symptom of fatigue, premenstrual syndrome or anxiety. But it also could be a warning sign of a stroke, multiple sclerosis or a tumor.


Symptom Relief

While a sudden increase in clumsiness should be brought to the attention of your doctor, there also are a number of quick, easy remedies for those occasional times when things near you seem to go bump, crash and rattle.

Don't dwell on it. "People who notice they're clumsy invariably become more clumsy," Dr. Slater says. "In reality, they may have been this clumsy all of their lives and suddenly, for some reason, often stress or fatigue, they become more aware of it."

Take a nap. You may be a bit more clumsy because you're tired. "If you know that you've been missing sleep, and you've been fumbling things around, then the first thing to do is to get some rest," says Dr. Slater.

Take time to relax. Some people who are prone to stress or are suffering from anxiety can become more fumble-fingered, Dr. Slater says. Stress-reduction techniques such as biofeedback or meditation may help.

Tennis, anyone? Exercises requiring hand/eye coordination can improve your reflexes and make you less clumsy, says Jim Buskirk, a physical therapist at the Dizziness and Balance Center in Wilmette, Illinois. "Activities like tennis and Ping-Pong are particularly good for hand/eye coordination," he says. "Just taking a paddle with a ball on a string and bouncing that for one or two minutes twice a day can help. We also have people hold two round sticks in their hands and we put a third stick on top so it forms an H. Then we ask them to roll the sideways stick back and forth."

Imagine your worst nightmare. Imagery can help you overcome your clumsiness, says Dennis Gersten, M.D., a San Diego psychiatrist and publisher of Atlantis: The Imagery Newsletter. To try it, close your eyes and imagine that you're in a shop full of china or glass figurines. Then imagine that you're the clumsiest person in the world. In your klutziness, you stumble and fall into all sorts of precious objects. Now let go and have a good laugh because the world did not fall apart.

"Many people walk on pins and needles so they avoid some imagined catastrophe. But actually imagining the worst-case scenario often takes the bite out of that fear of klutziness," Dr. Gersten says. Practice this imagery for five to ten minutes a day.

Bring out the animal in you. Animals are another image that helps people become less clumsy. "What is the most graceful animal that you can think of? A cheetah? An eagle?" Dr. Gersten asks. "Imagine yourself as that animal. Feel yourself as that animal. Feel how every muscle in your body works together. Feel the wind in your face as you run or soar through the air in perfect balance with yourself and with nature." Practice this imagery for five to ten minutes whenever your self-esteem is low because of an episode of clumsiness.