Discover the common causes of hand numbness and tingling, from minor issues to serious conditions, and when to see a doctor. Ever woken up with numb, tingly hands or felt that “pins and needles” sensation out of nowhere? It can feel unsettling, but in most cases, it’s not dangerous.
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This numbness happens when you least expect it: one minute – your hand works as usual, then it is partially numb and floppy. It seems you are being pricked with pins and needles. In other words, your hand has fallen asleep.
The medical term for this is paresthesia, which occurs when pressure is applied to the nerve supplying the limb. The most common reason our arm falls asleep is that we lie on it flexibly while sleeping; this causes blood flow to the nerve to stop, which in turn causes a numbness or tingling sensation.
Causes of Pins and Needles
Numbness is usually felt in the thumb, index, and middle fingers. If you feel numbness in your little finger and/or ring finger, it is usually due to:
Excessive elbow flexion during sleep causes constriction and decreased blood flow to the ulnar nerve.
Although all variants of hand numbness are associated with impaired conduction of impulses, not every tingling sensation in the hands indicates that a person has a serious illness.
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In the meantime, if your entire arm is numb, it means that you slept on your shoulder “wrong,” reducing blood flow to several nerves in your arm, or your neck was in a strange position, affecting the nerves running directly from the spine. At this point, your hand may feel a tingling sensation – a needle sensation – or just numbness.
The causes of hand numbness are temporary and chronic.
Temporary Numbness of the Hands
Everyone has experienced this harmless state at least once in their life. The sensation is associated with a temporary decrease in the blood supply to the nerves that provide sensitivity to the hands, such as the median or ulnar.
As a result, the nervous system deprived of oxygen loses some information, and the rest is transmitted to the brain with distortions – a person perceives this as numbness and tingling. But once the pressure on the arm stops, the temporary numbness goes away. In this case, no treatment is required.
Temporary numbness of the hands can be “earned” if, for example, you fall asleep with your arm bent under your head. It is enough to stretch and massage the limb to get rid of unpleasant sensations.
Another common cause of temporary hand numbness is sitting at a computer. If the numbness recurs frequently, it may be due to overstraining some of the neck’s deep muscles. When overstrained muscles are shortened, blood vessels and nerves compress. If taking a break during the day to warm up and exercise does not help, you should consult your doctor.
Chronic Hand Numbness
This condition is less common than temporary numbness, lasts longer, and does not go away if the hand is stretched or massaged.
Damage or pinching of the nervous system. Nerves can be damaged from a broken arm or carpal tunnel syndrome – when the hand becomes numb, and the thumb weakens. The causes of carpal tunnel syndrome are not fully understood.
It is believed that the problem can arise due to hormonal changes in women, rheumatoid arthritis, or regular excessive stress on the wrist, due to which the median nerve, which provides hand sensitivity, suffers.
Cervical spondylosis can cause hand numbness in people over the age of 60. This condition is part of the normal aging process, in which the neck’s cervical vertebrae and intervertebral discs gradually wear out; this can pinch the nerves in the hands and cause numbness.
Vitamin B12 (folic acid) deficiency. Its deficiency can be encountered by vegetarians, the elderly, patients with diabetes mellitus, and people with pernicious anemia. Lack of vitamins leads, among other things, to nerve damage, so it is crucial to eat a balanced diet. Vitamin B12 is only in foods of animal origin, so vegetarians usually have to take vitamin pills.
Chronic diseases. The most common disease in which there is a risk of causing peripheral neuropathy is type 2 diabetes. The longest nerves are the first to suffer.
So numbness usually occurs in the legs and arms. If numbness is indeed associated with type 2 diabetes, the patient should see a doctor as soon as possible to adjust treatment and lifestyle choices. Otherwise, the symptoms may worsen and lead to complications during the underlying disease.
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