The most common causes of numbness in body parts

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The feeling of numbness in the limbs is called paresthesia in medicine (from the Greek words “πᾰρά” - “outside, around, past” and “aisthesis” - “sensation”). This is the loss of normal tissue sensitivity due to impaired transmission of nerve impulses. It seems to a person that he is being touched through a layer of cotton wool.

Occurs at any age, often accompanied by tingling and goosebumps. It may be a physiological condition associated with prolonged compression of a nerve or blood vessels while in an uncomfortable position. When changing position, sensitivity is quickly restored. If the sensation is repeated, is not associated with an uncomfortable position, and lasts a long time, it requires diagnosis, as it may be a symptom of a dangerous disease.

Reasons for development

Various factors lead to impaired sensitivity, which can be divided into several large groups.

Table 1. Numbness of the extremities of the arms and legs: causes

All paresthesias are fundamentally divided into two types.

1. Transient. Caused by temporary compression of the neurovascular bundle – ischemia.
2. Permanent. Occurs when there is anatomical damage to blood vessels or nerves.

If a person periodically experiences transient numbness, you should consult a neurologist for a thorough examination. This will help prevent life-threatening diseases: stroke, heart attack.

If an unpleasant sensation occurs and does not go away, you should also consult a doctor. Such problems do not disappear on their own. Without treatment, they can lead to disability.

The right side of the body goes numb: reasons

As mentioned earlier, there are a huge number of factors that can influence this state of the body. However, if a person is sure that the problem is not related to hypothermia or prolonged stay in one position, then in this case we can talk about quite serious pathologies of the body.

You should not be negligent about your health. It is necessary to take a closer look at why the right side of the body goes numb. The causes of this condition may be hidden in various pathologies.

Constant numbness in the extremities of the body

Carpal tunnel syndrome

The nerve fiber, located in a tight space limited by muscles and bones, is compressed by swollen tissues. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common problem for modern people in certain professions: programmers, guitarists, artists, drummers - everyone whose work involves prolonged, monotonous stress on the hands. It manifests itself as paresthesia of the hand, pain, burning, sensation of electric shock, weakness, and inability to make some movements.

Radiculopathy

Compression of a nerve root by an intervertebral hernia. Numbness of an arm or leg depends on the level of compression and is accompanied by pain, muscle weakness, and impaired reflexes. At first it manifests itself as mild numbness of the extremities, gradually the symptoms increase. The pain decreases when lying down, but increases when the person stands, coughs or sneezes.

Metabolic polyneuropathy

It is characterized by a symmetrical lesion that develops due to a disturbance in metabolic processes in nerve fibers. It can be caused by diabetes mellitus, alcoholism, chronic renal failure, deficiency of vitamin B1, B12. Manifested by paresthesia, loss of sensation in the lower extremities, weakness, paresis.

Multiple sclerosis

Associated with the destruction of the myelin sheath (demyelination) of nerve fibers, which disrupts the conduction of nerve impulses. First, a transient sensation of numbness in the arms or legs appears, crawling along the fingertips, then the symptoms become more pronounced and permanent.

Polymyalgia rheumatica

Develops in people over 50 years of age. Accompanied by severe pain in symmetrical muscles, aggravated by movement, persisting at night. Most patients complain of muscle stiffness, numbness of the limbs in the morning and after prolonged immobility.

Factors of occupational hazard

Paresthesia is often caused by vibration and ultrasound. They damage peripheral nerves, cause loss of tactile sensitivity, numbness of the fingers, and intolerance to cold.

Stroke

If the right side of the body becomes numb, the reasons may be more dangerous. In this case, we are talking about an acute circulatory disorder in the brain, due to which some parts of it are damaged. In this case, the sensitivity of some parts of the body disappears. During a stroke, it is unilateral numbness of the body that is recorded. In this case, unpleasant symptoms can be observed not only in the limbs, but also in the sides, hips, neck and face.

A stroke is quite easy to identify, since it will be accompanied by additional symptoms in the form of impaired motor functions, vision problems and difficulty speaking.

Diagnostics

Clinical symptoms are of great importance for making a diagnosis. Therefore, the doctor carefully asks the patient about when the disease began, how it manifests itself, and what helps.

Table 2. Differential diagnosis of numbness and tingling in the extremities. Possible reasons

A very common manifestation of diseases of the nervous system and musculoskeletal system is numbness . Treatment of this problem can sometimes be very difficult due to the many factors that cause it and the difficulty in treating the underlying pathology.

WHAT IS NUMBITY AND HOW DOES IT OCCUR?

The human brain must constantly receive information from the environment. This is accomplished through receptors, of which there are a large number. These receptors permeate all our tissues, including the skin of the upper and lower extremities. A person’s ability to sense various irritations through receptors is sensitivity, and numbness

- This is a sensory disorder. Receptors with the property of irritability convert this irritation into nerve impulses, which are sent along centripetal fibers to the brain for analysis, bypassing many structures along the way. And a violation in any of these structures leads to sensitivity disorder (numbness).

In medical classifications , numbness

refers to a type of sensitivity disorder such as paresthesia, which includes, in addition to numbness, some other unpleasant sensations. Such unpleasant sensations include: tingling, burning, crawling sensation.

The distal parts of the body, that is, the limbs, are most often affected by numbness. “I have numbness in my hand and fingers,” is such a common complaint, yet people so rarely seek medical help. More often, these symptoms occur at night, when a person wakes up from the fact that his entire hand, or only his fingertips, are numb. This can happen at any time and under any conditions, however, depending on a particular disease, the symptoms will still change. Let's look at some characteristic symptoms that relate to one or another disease.

SYMPTOMS OF NUMBENCY IN VARIOUS DISEASES

Numbness in spinal osteochondrosis and discogenic disorders

With osteochondrosis of the spine, damage to bone structures and intervertebral discs occurs due to degenerative-dystrophic processes. Protrusions and herniations of intervertebral discs will play a key role in impaired sensitivity (numbness). How does this process happen? A hernia or protrusion compresses the spinal roots, or the nerve itself, which exits the intervertebral foramen. As is known, the nerves contain sensory fibers from the corresponding dermatomes. From the dermatomes of the upper extremities - this is the cervical spine, from the lower extremities - the lumbar spine. Nerves compressed by spinal hernias lose their ability to conduct impulses and this is how numbness

. This type of sensitivity disorder is characterized by concomitant vertebrogenic pain syndromes, muscle weakness, stiffness and difficulty moving.

Numbness due to Raynaud's disease

Raynaud's disease is a numbness of the fingertips of both hands, which is often provoked by cold, and they first acquire a pale tint, and then turn blue and become red-purple. All these symptoms relate to Raynaud's disease, which is associated with impaired blood circulation and filling of the smallest vessels (arteries and arterioles) of the distal (end) parts of the fingers. This disease is 5 times more common in women. If the above symptoms of numbness occur, you should contact a neurologist and rheumatologist, who will rule out diseases of the cervical spine or a concomitant autoimmune process and prescribe appropriate treatment.

Numbness due to carpal tunnel syndrome

The following disease is characterized by numbness of the first three fingers of the hand - these are the first, index and middle fingers of the hand. There may also be tingling and soreness that can spread to the entire hand. The condition for the occurrence of numbness in this pathology can be monotonous work of the hands, for example, in a programmer, seamstress, and so on. The pathogenetic cause of this condition is compression of the median nerve in the canal, which is formed by the ligamentous and muscular apparatus. As a result of increased pressure in the wrist, compression of the venules and arterioles supplying the epineurium of the median nerve occurs. Subsequently, intraneural edema forms, myelin fibers are affected and the above symptoms occur (in particular, numbness

). This disease is 2 times more common in women and in obese people. To make a diagnosis of carpal tunnel syndrome, it is necessary to perform specific test symptoms and exclude radiculopathy of the cervical spine and brachial plexus diseases.

Numbness due to polyneuropathy

Polyneuropathies are characterized by numbness and impaired sensitivity of the distal (end) parts of both the upper and lower extremities. Symptoms such as tingling, itching, swelling, a feeling of “cotton wool” in the legs while walking, and lack of temperature sensations may also occur. Impaired temperature sensations in patients are manifested in the identification of burns on the hands, unsteadiness of gait in the dark, the presence of painless ulcers and peeling of the skin, especially on the dorsum of the lower limb. Major diseases that can lead to polyneuropathy and sensitivity disorders ( numbness

), these are: diabetes mellitus (thirst will also be observed), consequences of operations (laminectomies), drug intoxication, drug addiction, toxic effects of various substances in case of poisoning. Alcohol abuse can be identified as a special group. This is the so-called alcoholic polyneuropathy.

In all these conditions, the nerve sheath is affected, resulting in loss of sensation (numbness).

Numbness due to scalene syndrome

The name of the syndrome indicates the scalene muscle, which is where the pathology is formed. This muscle is attached to the first rib and lower cervical vertebrae, forming an opening through which the subclavian artery and the brachial plexus pass, innervating the upper limb. With cervical osteochondrosis, the scalene muscles are spasmed and cause compression of the subclavian artery and branches of the brachial plexus. As a result, blood flow and innervation of the upper limb decrease, and the hand suffers the most, because it is there that we feel this unpleasant symptom - numbness

. Treatment also occurs after a full examination.

Numbness in ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack

With ischemic stroke and transient ischemic attack, there is a disruption of blood circulation in the brain with damage to its structures. Numbness during an ischemic stroke is not difficult to suspect, since it will be characterized by damage to half of the body, for example, the right arm, right leg, or, on the contrary, symptoms such as paresis and paralysis in these or opposite limbs (movements in them are impaired). It all depends on the localization of the pathological process; there may also be visual impairment, speech impairment, memory loss, and so on. In these cases, you should immediately seek medical help for timely provision. The situation is different with a transient ischemic attack, in which symptoms tend to occur unnoticed with low intensity and pass over time. Numbness during a transient ischemic attack persists and the patient, without giving it much importance, usually seeks medical help less often, which can aggravate the condition and then, most likely, a transient ischemic attack will develop into an ischemic stroke, which already directly threatens the patient’s life.

Numbness in demyelinating diseases

Demyelinating diseases are, as a rule, hereditary diseases that affect the nervous tissue of the brain and spinal cord, or the nerve trunks themselves. With these types of diseases, symptoms can be very diverse: from local lesions with numbness of one finger or the whole hand, to mosaic lesions with numbness in various areas of the body. This lesion is characterized by persistent symptoms with possible increasing dynamics. As with other pathological conditions, consultation with specialists and a thorough examination are necessary.

CAUSES OF NUMENCE

Considering the symptoms described above, it is worth summarizing the conditions that can provoke its appearance:

• osteocondritis of the spine;
• pinching (compression) of the roots of the spinal nerves, trunk or branches of the corresponding nerves along the course of innervation;
• discogenic disorders;
• Raynaud's disease;
• carpal tunnel syndrome;
• demyelinating diseases;
• ischemic stroke;
• transient ischemic attacks (TIA);
• scalene muscle syndrome;
• polyneuropathy (diabetic, alcoholic);
• hypothermia;
• injuries;
• tumor lesions of both the brain and spinal cord, as well as structures adjacent to the trunk or branches of the nerves along the innervation to the site of numbness.

TYPES OF NUMENCE

Numbness of the limbs

The upper and lower extremities become numb quite often. This may indicate temporary compression of the nerve, or the presence of vascular or endocrine pathology (diabetes mellitus). It is important to seek help in time and find the cause of the disease.

Numbness of the hand

The hand also becomes numb quite often. The most common cause of this condition is compression of the nerves or blood vessels in the hand area, as well as the median nerve. The consequences of such a pathology can be quite serious.

Numb hand

The most common cause of this pathological condition is pinching of the neurovascular bundle by the muscles and connective tissue. The condition is very unpleasant, as the activity of the entire limb is partially impaired.

Numbness of fingers

Carpal tunnel syndrome is often involved in the occurrence of numbness in the fingers. Damage to the cervical spine may also be the cause. If the fingers of both hands are affected at the same time, we can talk about Raynaud's disease and other causes. Interestingly, at the end of the last century, numbness of the fingers was extremely rare, but now it is one of the fairly common symptoms.

Numbness of the leg

Quite often it occurs in young, working people and this type of numbness is often associated with professional activities. In addition to numbness, there is often a crawling sensation in the legs. Damage to the lumbar and sacral spine is one of the main causes of this symptom.

Numb toes

There are many reasons why the toes go numb: these include spinal diseases, diabetic polyneuropathy, alcohol abuse (alcoholic polyneuropathy), and vascular problems. The pathology is very unpleasant, especially for the female population.

PREVENTION

Prevention will consist of eliminating factors that lead to diseases accompanied by numbness. Loss of sensation ( numbness)

) is already a consequence of a pathological process that has arisen in the body. To avoid these diseases, it is necessary, first of all, to undergo courses of preventive examinations from specialists who will be able to identify diseases hidden about the symptoms of numbness in the early stages. In addition, eat right, lead a healthy lifestyle, control your sugar levels and numbness can be avoided.

DIAGNOSTICS

For any type of sensitivity disorder, consultation with a specialist and a thorough examination are necessary. It is quite difficult to determine the cause of numbness on your own without auxiliary methods, especially when this process is caused by a huge number of diseases.

To diagnose numbness, almost all known examination methods are used: survey, visual and manual examination, radiography, computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, angiography, myography, as well as laboratory tests (blood tests for inflammation, glucose levels). It is very important to conduct a full diagnosis of numbness; treatment should be appropriate.

Treatment

Table 3. Numbness of the extremities: causes and symptoms, treatment

Radicular syndromes

Such pathologies include radiculitis, inflammation, vascular dysfunction, intervertebral hernia and mechanical compression of the nerve roots located in the spine. As a rule, if a person suffers from radicular syndrome, then in this case the patient complains that his finger (or several) or part of his hand is numb. In such situations, the entire limb loses sensitivity much less often.

Sometimes there is also a burning sensation in the extremities, which may worsen at night.

Numbness during pregnancy

In the 2nd and 3rd trimester, women very often experience loss of sensation in the hands, sides of the thighs and feet. If an expectant mother's right or left hand becomes numb, this is often caused by carpal tunnel syndrome. This means that the woman is suffering from compression of the nerve that is located in the wrist. This occurs against the background of swelling of the surrounding tissue. As a rule, the symptoms of such a pathology increase significantly at night and in the morning. To solve this problem, experts recommend that women do hand exercises. It is worth noting that such a syndrome should not cause concern to the expectant mother, since such pathologies do not have any effect on the fetus.

If a pregnant woman has numbness on the right side of the thigh or its left part, then this, as a rule, indicates that childbirth will soon occur. This is explained by the fact that compression of the external cutaneous nerve occurs. As a rule, if a woman begins to bend her legs at the hip joint, then the unpleasant symptoms go away. Such problems also cannot have a negative impact on the fetus.

If a pregnant woman has numbness on the right side of the thigh or its left part, then this, as a rule, indicates that childbirth will soon occur. This is explained by the fact that compression of the external cutaneous nerve occurs. As a rule, if a woman begins to bend her legs at the hip joint, then the unpleasant symptoms go away. Such problems also cannot have a negative impact on the fetus.

In addition, it is worth considering that during pregnancy women experience a deficiency of beneficial microelements. If it lacks magnesium, calcium, iron and other components, then this may well lead to numbness in different parts of the body. As a rule, to get rid of such symptoms, it is enough to undergo a course of treatment with special products that contain the necessary vitamins.

However, it should not be ruled out that during pregnancy, loss of sensitivity may be associated with one of the diseases described above.

Treatment of numbness at the MART clinic

The reason for contacting the neurologists of the MART medical center is numbness in any area that occurs periodically without any apparent reason and lasts more than 1-5 minutes.

Doctors at our medical center, depending on the causes of numbness identified during the diagnosis process, can use manual therapy, physiotherapy, acupuncture, exercise therapy and other methods of conservative therapy to treat this condition. The course of treatment in each case is selected strictly individually.

By turning to the MART clinic for help in a timely manner, you can accurately determine the cause of the disturbing symptoms, quickly take appropriate measures and prevent the development of possible complications.

Sign up at the MART medical center in St. Petersburg (see map) by phone, or leave a request on the website.

In what areas can numbness occur?

If your arms and legs often feel numb, pay attention to where the loss of sensation occurs. Sometimes this criterion is of value to the doctor during diagnosis.

• Numbness of the hands and feet - observed with a spinal injury, hernia or pinched spinal nerves.
• Loss of sensation in the fingers - occurs with carpal tunnel syndrome, when the nerve is compressed by swollen muscles.
• Numbness in the arm and leg at the same time indicates serious disorders in the body. The causes may be neurological, orthopedic and vascular.
• Numbness combined with dizziness - the most common cause is neuralgia.
• Numbness of the limbs and face - here one should suspect damage to the brain or blood vessels. Consultation with a doctor is required.
• The right arm and leg are numb - a one-sided lesion indicates pinched spinal nerves. Often occurs with curvature of the spine, hernias.
• Reduced sensitivity in the left arm and leg - indicates neurology, the presence of heart and vascular diseases. You should see an orthopedist. Often the cause is a curvature of the spine.

To identify provoking factors, it is necessary to analyze the characteristics of working conditions. Poor posture often contributes to loss of sensation in the limbs.

Numb fingers

If a person suffers from loss of sensitivity in the fingers and at the same time he experiences severe pain, and also notices a change in the color of the limbs, then in this case we can talk about a sharp spasm of the blood vessels in the finger. This often happens with Raynaud's disease, scleroderma, osteochondrosis and spinal hernia.

If a person not only has a numb hand, but also develops severe headaches, then in this case doctors most often suspect osteochondrosis, and accordingly this pathology must be treated. If loss of sensation is observed in the ring finger or little finger, then in this case there is suspicion of neuropathy.

To get rid of unpleasant symptoms, you need to visit a doctor and find out why a particular person’s right arm, leg or left side of the body is numb.

Multiple sclerosis

Speaking about why the right side goes numb, it is worth considering this disease. This disease is a chronic pathology of the central nervous system. In this case, part of the nerve tissue of the brain begins to be replaced by connective tissue. Firstly, with multiple sclerosis, patients complain that their right hand and other limbs are numb. They become difficult to control.

Additional symptoms include visual impairment and other signs of central nervous system disease.

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How to identify the cause of numbness?

The treatment regimen for numbness depends entirely on the cause that caused it. To diagnose the likely culprits of numbness in a particular area, a neurologist may prescribe the following examination methods:

• MRI – used to diagnose osteochondrosis, intervertebral hernias, arthritis, etc.;
• X-ray examination - allows you to identify bone fractures that could cause nerve damage,
• duplex examination of blood vessels – reveals vascular diseases (atherosclerosis, thrombosis, varicose veins), congenital anomalies, post-traumatic changes;
• general blood analysis.

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When should you see a doctor?

In most cases, diseases that cause numbness are not life-threatening. However, some conditions require immediate consultation with a doctor, an accurate diagnosis and appropriate treatment.

It is urgent to see a specialist if numbness is accompanied by:

• limited mobility of fingers, arms or legs;
• sudden weakness, dizziness;
• urinary and fecal incontinence;
• speech disorders and impaired ability to move.

It is also unacceptable to postpone a visit to the doctor if numbness occurs after an injury in the back, neck or head.

Causes

Numbness can be a sign of a wide range of diseases or conditions that involve restricted blood flow or nerve damage.

Temporary numbness can be caused by any activity that puts prolonged pressure on the nerve(s), such as sitting cross-legged or cycling long distances. Numbness can also occur due to moderate to severe orthopedic or vascular pathology, as well as conditions and diseases that lead to damage to the nervous system. In some cases, numbness is a symptom of a life-threatening condition that requires emergency medical attention.

Cardiovascular causes of numbness

Numbness can be caused by a lack of blood flow to a certain area due to conditions such as:

• Arteriovenous malformations
• Buerger's disease
• Deep vein thrombosis (a blood clot in the legs can break off, which can lead to pulmonary embolism in the lungs, heart attack, stroke)
• Frostbite
• Diseases of peripheral arteries (vascular atherosclerosis, in which narrowing of the arterial bed occurs).
• Raynaud's syndrome, in which persistent spasm of peripheral vessels occurs and blood circulation in the distal extremities is impaired. Vasospasm is usually triggered by cold or sometimes stress.

Orthopedic causes of numbness

Numbness may also occur due to minor or serious orthopedic conditions that cause nerve damage:

• Whiplash neck injury
• Bone fractures
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Degenerative diseases of the intervertebral disc
• Herniated disc
• Compression pinched nerve
• Osteoporosis

Neurological causes of numbness

Numbness due to nerve compression or nerve damage may be due to conditions such as:

• Alcoholism
• Brain tumors
• Diabetic neuropathy
• Encephalitis
• Heavy metal poisoning such as lead poisoning
• Hypothyroidism
• Multiple sclerosis
• Peripheral neuropathy
• Spinal cord injury or tumor
• Stroke
• Systemic lupus erythematosus
• Myelitis
• Myelopathy
• Vitamin B12 deficiency

Numbness during pregnancy

Pregnant women face many changes in the body, and numbness is one of them. Some pregnant women develop carpal tunnel syndrome and it is believed to be due to water retention in the body during pregnancy.

As the fetus develops, fluid accumulates in the body, tissues swell, including in the wrist area, compression of the median nerve occurs and carpal tunnel syndrome develops. Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome are more pronounced in the morning hours, as fluid accumulates in the body at night. As a rule, carpal tunnel syndrome in pregnant women heals on its own after delivery.

Numbness in children

There are many reasons why children may experience numbness in different parts of the body. Eating disorders, lack of vitamins and minerals can cause numbness in the lower extremities, this is especially typical for a deficiency of B vitamins. Sports injuries can also cause numbness. Therefore, in childhood, parents need to pay attention to children’s complaints of numbness, which lasts more than a few minutes and may be a sign of damage to ligaments, tendons or bone fractures. Often, anxiety in childhood can be a source of numbness in the lips and face.