Dr. Bach Thanh Thuy - Department of Examination, An Sinh General Hospital, said that hand and foot numbness has many causes, from common living factors to neurological, metabolic and circulatory diseases.
Common causes include nerve compression due to wrist canal syndrome, herniated discs, cervical or lumbar spinal degeneration. In addition, vitamin B deficiency, especially vitamin B12, diabetes, vascular diseases, drug side effects or some systemic diseases can also cause numbness.
Prolonged living posture is also a common cause. Sitting cross-legged, kneeling, leaning your head on your arm, or lying on one limb for a long time can simultaneously compress nerves and blood vessels. At this time, nerve transmission and blood flow are affected, causing numbness or reduced sensation.
Posture numbness usually improves after changing posture. However, if symptoms persist, recur frequently or gradually increase, patients need to see a doctor to determine the cause.
According to doctors, wrist tube syndrome is a common cause of hand numbness, especially in the thumb, index finger and middle finger. Spinal diseases such as herniated discs or spinal degeneration can also compress nerve roots, causing numbness to spread down to the hands or feet.
Meanwhile, diabetes can cause damage to many nerves due to prolonged hyperglycemia. Patients often experience reduced symmetrical sensation in both arms or legs in the style of "wearing gloves and socks". Vitamin B12 deficiency, autoimmune diseases, multiple root inflammation of nerves and peripheral vascular diseases can also cause sensory disorders.
In particular, sudden ailment of one side of the body is a sign to note because it may be related to a stroke. Patients need to go to the hospital immediately if ailment is accompanied by weakness or paralysis of one side of the body, crooked mouth, difficulty speaking, severe dizziness or loss of balance.
In addition, numbness in the buttocks, genitals, inside the thighs accompanied by sudden urinary or bowel disorders may be related to spinal cord injury or horsetail syndrome. Numbness spreading rapidly from the tip of the limb to the base of the limb accompanied by muscle weakness also needs emergency care because it can occur in Guillain-Barré syndrome.
Doctors recommend that patients should not arbitrarily perform a series of tests when they have numbness in their hands and feet. The examination needs to be based on the location, time, degree of numbness and accompanying symptoms to choose the appropriate method.
Arm and leg numbness is not always dangerous, but when it appears suddenly, progresses quickly or is accompanied by movement disorders, urination, defecation or acute neurological signs, patients need to go to a medical facility immediately for examination and timely treatment.
