Contents:
- Medical Video: Tingling Feet and Hands: An Early Warning of Neuropathy
- What caused it?
- How to handle it?
- When to see a doctor?
Medical Video: Tingling Feet and Hands: An Early Warning of Neuropathy
Nearly every person has experienced a tickling and piercing sensation that comes suddenly in the hand or foot - like a small needling. We generally call it "tingling", because the sensation that is felt is like being covered by hundreds of ants under the skin. It's not so painful to feel sorry, but it feels pretty uncomfortable too. Strangely, just by shaking your legs for a while, the tingling sensation will slowly disappear.
What is tingling?
Tingling is a condition that you experience when the nerves in your hands or feet receive a heavy pressure for a long time. In the medical world, tingling is called paresthesia.
This uncomfortable numbness and tickling usually occurs in body parts that are routinely used in daily activities, such as the legs, arms, or hands. Kneeling, sitting cross-legged, or sleeping in arms for too long can cause this sigh to roar.
What caused it?
The most important cause is a pinched nerve. The human body has billions of nerves that function as communication channels from the brain and spine to the entire body. When your hands or feet receive so much pressure for a long time, the nerves that propagate inside will be pinched.
Pinched nerves will cause your brain to lack information about the sensory sense of touch that is expected to come from the collection of nerves. The pressure will also squeeze the blood vessels that support the work of the bundle of nerves. As a result, the nerves also cannot receive the blood and oxygen they need from the heart. This causes the nerve sensory message to be blocked so that the problematic limb will be "numb".
In addition to the nerves that are pinched, for example due to carpal tunnel syndrome / CTS, there are many other conditions that can cause you to experience tingling. For example, insect or animal bites, toxic allergens in seafood, migraine headaches, or radiation therapy. Excessive alcohol consumption to lack of nutrients such as vitamin B-12, potassium, calcium, and sodium in the body can also cause it.
Sometimes, certain injuries can produce a numbness or tickle sensation, such as a neck nerve injury or spinal hernia (herniated disk / nucleus pulposus or slipped disk). Likewise with inflammation or swelling of the spinal cord or in the brain. Both can put pressure on one nerve or more.
Three stages of tingling
Tingling actually occurs in three stages. One-four minutes after the hand or foot receives heavy pressure is the first stage called "tickling compression". The sensation that appears at this stage is described as a foaming soda drink that feels faint, or like a hum.
The second stage usually starts ten minutes later, called "numbness". The sensation of numbness will last as long as the pressure on the nerves and blood vessels of the leg is still ongoing.
Finally, after the pressure is removed, the third stage begins to take over this process: tingling. All of us are already very familiar with the sensation - the prick that tickles and is amused. This tingling sensation is caused by a peripheral nerve process that returns to work to send a message of pain to the brain. A collection of other nerves, such as nerves that function to regulate body temperature, will take longer to recover.
Tingling usually feels more painful than the two stages that follow it, but then it will slowly subside. We usually cannot know exactly when the sensation will return to normal.
How to handle it?
Tingling sensation can be overcome by lifting pressure from affected parts of the body, for example by standing up and walking for a while after sitting cross-legged for too long, or shaking your hands. This will allow the blood supply to return to normal, thus eliminating the sensation of numbness and tickling that is difficult for you. Afterwards, the feet and hands will function normally as usual.
Tingling that needs to be watched out
Tingling is generally temporary. But in many cases, tingling can be a severe, relapsing, or chronic medical condition. Chronic tingling will usually be followed by other symptoms, such as pain, itching, and muscle weakness / weakness.
In such cases, tingling can be a sign of nerve damage as a result of a variety of underlying medical conditions, such as seizures, traumatic or recurrent injuries, bacterial or viral infections, hardening of the arteries, and systemic diseases such as stroke, diabetes, liver disease, kidney disease, disorders thyroid, to cancer. Nerve damage like this is called peripheral neuropathy. There are more than 100 different types of peripheral neuropathy, and over time this condition can get worse and cause a decrease in body mobility to disability.
Tingling can also be an early sign of several autoimmune and hereditary diseases, such as Guillain-Barre syndrome, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Raynauds syndrome, and Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome.
When to see a doctor?
Other symptoms that you should pay attention to include feeling confused and dazed, difficulty focusing, slurred speech, impaired vision, feeling weak or seriously ill, and losing control of your digestive tract or bladder.
Seek immediate medical help if you experience the above conditions after you experience a tingling sensation that is unusual, or have a back, neck or head injury that makes you unable to walk or move.
Losing consciousness after experiencing tingling is also a warning sign that you should immediately seek medical help.
