Why Is It Caused?
In America alone, around 3 to 6 percent of people suffer from this nerve disorder. Usually, in such a condition, the main nerve in the carpal tunnel is compressed, or the passageway from the forearm to the palm is compressed. However, these symptoms have many other reasons.
- Injury to a nerve, for example, a neck injury may cause you to feel numbness anywhere along your arm or hand, while a low back injury can cause numbness or tingle down the back of your leg.
- Pressure on the spinal nerves, such as from a herniated disk.
- Pressure on peripheral nerves from enlarged blood vessels, tumors, scar tissue, or infection.
- Lack of blood supply to an area, for example, cholesterol (plaque) build-up from atherosclerosis in the legs can cause pain, numbness, and tingling while walking
Medical Conditions
Other medical conditions can be behind the tingling and numbness feeling in your hands, such as:
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Diabetes
- Migraines
- Multiple sclerosis
- Seizures
- Brain Tumors
- Use of certain medications
- Toxic nerve damage due to lead, alcohol, or tobacco
- Radiation therapy
This list only includes common causes and is not complete.
Tests
Your doctor will perform a few tests to reach the real cause of your feeling of tingling and numbness.
- Blood tests: The tests detect the signs of abnormal immune system activity and other metabolic activities.
- An examination of cerebrospinal fluid. This can identify antibodies associated with peripheral neuropathy.
- An electromyogram (EMG)
- Nerve conduction velocity (NCV)
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
- Computed tomography (CT)
- Skin biopsy to look at nerve fiber endings
- Nerve biopsy
Prevention
The prevention really depends on the cause of these symptoms. However, certain lifestyle habits can prove beneficial in reducing numbness and tingling, such as :
- Low fat and a high fiber diet
- Taking enough vitamin D
- Moderate exercise
- Regular sleep schedule
- Avoiding smoking and alcohol
- Reducing and managing stress
- Limiting salt intake
- Staying within BMI(Body mass index)
When Should You Seek The Doctor?
Seek urgent care if you recently experienced any of the following:
- Neck, back, or head injury
- Difficulty in moving
- loss of consciousness even if it is for a shorter period of time
- trouble thinking or feelings of confusion
- Vision problems
- Slurred speech
- vision problems
- Losing control of bladder or your bowels
- Severe pain or feeling of weakness
Treatment
The causes of tingling and numbness are various, so that the treatment will depend entirely on the causes. The treatment will focus on resolving the medical conditions that are underlying the symptoms that you feel.
Consult Mir Neurology And Spine Center
The first step is to contact your primary care doctor and help you determine if you need to come to our office to have a nerve test done. They can refer you to us, and Dr. Mir can conduct several different tests to determine what is causing your condition and rule out any other possible causes.
