Numb fingers, as the name suggests, refers to the condition wherein you lose sensation in your digits. Apart from the fingers, the problem of numbness can affect other body parts like the hands, legs and shoulders. As I have said, if you have infrequent attacks of numbness, then you should not worry. However, if you realize that it is getting way too frequent and is also causing other abnormal symptoms, then you might suspect some underlying neural conditions affecting you. Technically, numbness in finger is not a condition, but a symptom of something else. It might be accompanied by other symptoms like weakness, tingling sensations, sharp pain and perhaps, a burning sensation in the fingers. Some people also come up with complaints about having numb fingertips. In order to know what factors are considered to be the causes of numb fingers, and what treatment is followed, you have to read the rest of the article.
Causes of Numb Fingers
Most mild cases of numb fingers may arise due to inappropriate sleeping positions. It may happen that you unconsciously place your hands beneath your body while sleeping. Doing this may cause a lack of blood supply to the arm, resulting in pain and numbness in the arm including the fingers. Some people have the habit to wear straps for long period of time. So it is common for their fingers to feel numb. Cases like these get resolved on their own once the arm is placed in a normal position.
Frequent episodes of the fingers going numb may have certain underlying medical conditions in the body. Common ones include alcohol abuse, type 2 diabetes, HIV/AIDS, injury to the spinal cord. Apart from these, conditions like carpal tunnel syndrome (a disorder that occurs due to compression in the nerve in the carpal tunnel; causes profound pain and in some cases numbness too), Raynaud’s syndrome (causes different body parts to go numb in response to cold temperatures or stress), stroke, and B-12 deficiency. Numb fingers during pregnancy, according to experts, is most often caused by carpal tunnel syndrome.
Other causes of numbness in fingers include:
Lyme disease
Multiple sclerosis
Cervical spondylosis
Ganglion cysts
Syphilis
Broken shoulder blade
Vasculitis
Drugs employed for chemotherapy
Amyloidosis
Sjogren’s syndrome
Treatment of Numb Fingers
Most people stay dubious about when is the right time that they should pay a visit to a doctor. According to experts, if patients are not able to move their limbs, have lost their bladder control, experience changes in vision, faces difficulty in walking and speaking, then they have enough reasons to make way for emergency medical help.
Treatment of numb fingers or any part of the body is decided by the severity of the condition. Identifying the underlying cause and addressing it is an important part of the treatment of numbness in left fingers and right fingers. For example, if carpal tunnel syndrome has been found to be the cause, then the patient would be recommended to follow some arm exercises. Use of non-steroid anti-rheumatic drugs may be an important part of the treatment. Apart from this, it is really important for the patient to take ample amount of rest while he/she is healing. Going for physical therapy classes aids to the muscle strength and improve range of motion.
Patients can make use of ice packs to reduce the numbness in fingers and toes, as it improves the blood circulation. Also, massaging the numb fingers helps a lot in most cases. To give you some prevention tips, sleep in a proper posture, avoid placing your hands behind the back of the chair, and work with electric screw drivers if you need to. And in case Raynaud’s disease happens to be the cause, make use of warm gloves at low temperatures.
