Functional weakness

•A dragging kind of walk - Patients with functional leg weakness sometimes have a very characteristic way of walking which means that their affected leg "drags" along the ground. This is different to someone with a stroke or multiple sclerosis who swings their leg if they are able to stand up. • A difference between the examination of power on the bed and when walking - some people with functional weakness have relatively normal examination of strength in the legs on the bed but weak legs when walking. The reverse can also be true. This is not because they are not trying to walk, the variability is a key feature of the diagnosis. Normal scans and tests help to make the diagnosis, but the diagnosis is usually made at the bedside on the basis of these positive signs by a neurologist when they first meet you