Losing sensation or tingling is most commonly experienced when your arm or leg falls asleep. While it is an odd sensation, it usually goes away on its own within a few minutes.
In most cases, numbness and tingling sensations are not life-threatening and are temporary.
Aside from sitting or sleeping in an odd position for too long, clients can experience numbness and tingling—also described as pins and needles—after an accident or some kind of growth pressing on their nerves. Sometimes, the loss of sensation comes back more often than one would like and without apparent cause or trauma.
Many kinds of medical conditions can cause tingling and numbness in the body, especially extremities, and in some rare cases, it is a symptom of an underlying life-threatening medical condition.
Optimum Health Rehab in Suwanee can help find the source of your numbness and tingling sensation. Let us show you how we can help.
Call us today at (678) 546-0550 or complete our online form to schedule your appointment.
Can a Doctor Provide Effective Numbness/Tingling Treatment?
Working with a medical professional to find the cause of your numbness and tingling is the best way to determine why these episodes are happening. At Optimum Health Rehab, our team is prepared to run full diagnostics when a client complains about a loss of sensation through a series of tests and imaging.
Given their results, it is possible to determine the cause—or multiple causes—of their numbness and tingling sensations.
Identifying the Area of Numbness
Numbness and tingling are sensations created when there are issues with our nervous and circulatory systems. During the initial assessment, your provider will ask a series of questions to better understand the area of numbness, your lifestyle, and your habits.
These details are critical to help understand the possible causes of numbness.
Physical Evaluation
Your provider will want to complete a physical assessment of the problem area. This can be accomplished by performing muscle, neurological, orthopedic, and range-of-motion tests to pinpoint the source of nerve compression or other issues contributing to your symptoms.
Your provider can check the following:
- Range of motion measurements (ROM) and mobility.
- Tests to determine the strength of the part of the body feeling numbness or weakness.
- Tests to determine the balance.
- Neurological testing to check for nerve damage.
- Checking cardiovascular endurance and heart palpitations.
Imaging
Imaging is one of the best ways to see the layers and connective tissues inside the human body. The three types of imaging exams administered are:
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
- Computed Tomography Scans (CT scans)
- X-Rays
Each kind provides a different insight into the problem areas. For example, CT scans can produce detailed images of the inside of the human body that shows surrounding connective ligaments and tendon and muscle groups.
The kinds of imaging exams will be determined by the type and severity of your numbness and pain.
Nerve Conduction Velocity Testing (NVC)
Some providers will opt to complete a nerve conduction velocity test as it is a great tool to stimulate a nerve with a mild electrical impulse. Tests help determine the speed and time for electrical impulses to travel between electrodes.
This kind of test can help distinguish whether there is a nerve issue or a muscular issue and can determine other medical conditions like Sciatica problems or herniated discs.
If you have a cardiac defibrillator or pacemaker, it must be made known to your provider, as other precautions will be needed to ensure there is no interference with your existing medical devices.
Once the test is completed, patients can return to their usual activities unless advised otherwise.
What Causes Numbness and Tingling
Commonly known as Paresthesia, numbness and tingling can result from different kinds of injuries and medical conditions. Paresthesia can impact different parts of the body when there is a reduction of blood flow to a given area.
This happens when there is compression of the vessels or nerves. While most will experience this at some point in their lifetime, it is not life-threatening and should resolve itself within a few minutes.
- Injury of certain body parts, like the funny bone
- Hyperventilation
- Migraines
- Panic attacks
- Renaud’s Syndrome
- Seizures
- Whiplash
- Dehydration
These are all cases of non-life-threatening transient paresthesia. Clients have also experienced injuries or exposures that have created some kind of numbing or tingling sensations.
These cases are usually events like being exposed to toxins or animal bites. Or facing significant injury after being in a car accident nerve. In many cases, the signs of numbness are localized to one area of the body.
However, there are other cases, like a tick bite that leads to Lyme Disease or a patient who suffers from poor circulation or is receiving chemotherapy to treat cancer. They also have a numbing and tingling sensation in different parts of their bodies.
Your provider will run tests to rule out more complex causes of paresthesia, like diabetes, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), stroke, and Hypothyroidism. These conditions require medical care and can lead to life-threatening complications.
Neuropathy
Neuropathy is a medical condition that describes the symptoms caused by nerve damage. These symptoms can be anything from numbness to tingling to weakness.
These symptoms are often treated through physical therapy, which has been proven to help reduce these symptoms.
How Diabetics Can Reduce Numbing and Tingling Sensations
Diabetics have difficulty controlling their blood sugar throughout the day and after meals without medication. They can develop neuropathy when their glucose levels are out of control in their extremities, like hands and feet.
Incorporating improvements to their diet that reduce foods that trigger extreme sugar hikes and incorporating regular exercise into their routines can help regulate their sugar and, in turn, reduce the episodes of paresthesia.
How Clients Suffering from Hypothyroidism Can Find Relief from Paresthesia
Hypothyroidism is when the thyroid, which controls metabolic rates in the human body, is underperforming. Clients experiencing this medical condition may see a series of symptoms, including the enlargement of the thyroid gland in the throat, weight gain, brittle nails, hair loss, and tingling and numbness in parts of the body.
Incorporating physical therapy, a proper sleeping routine, and eating anti-inflammatory foods have been proven to be beneficial in managing hypothyroid symptoms. Additionally, chiropractic therapy sessions can also help by correcting any misalignments of areas that can interfere with the nerves of the spine.
The nerves in the spine help send the right signals to the thyroid, allowing it to operate correctly.
Signs of neuropathy caused by hypothyroidism can include pain, burning sensation in different parts of the body, loss of strength in that part of the body or abnormal weakness, and loss of sensation in the part of the body affected by the medical condition.
In turn, both a custom chiropractic and physical therapy program can be beneficial and help with the symptoms of Hypothyroidism and help with any numbing sensations created by the medical condition.
When Do Numbness and Tingling Need Emergency Medical Care
Most cases of numbness and tingling are related to non-life-threatening issues; however, there are cases where clients should seek immediate medical attention as soon as possible.
If tingling and numbness happen simultaneously with the following, clients should seek immediate medical assistance as it might be a symptom of a more complex life-threatening medical condition:
- Fatigue
- Vision blurriness or other related issues
- Pain in the back
- Pain in the neck
Numbness and tingling should not be experienced with other symptoms or throughout the whole body. If any of these other symptoms occur simultaneously, make sure to seek medical intervention as soon as possible.
How Can a Doctor Treat Numbness and Tingling?
After an assessment and running diagnostics, your provider will create a custom treatment plan to address your numbness. This treatment plan will consist of different treatments, including chiropractic sessions, massage, exercises, and stretching.
These treatments can help loosen and release the compression on the nerve that is causing numbness and tingling sensations.
What Can You Do to Minimize Numbing and Tingling Symptoms?
Clients can take precautionary measures to prevent numbness and tingling from returning or limit their occurrences. Many of these good habits can be created by eating a healthy diet and regularly exercising.
More specifically, you should consider the following:
- Consuming a diet rich in fruits and vegetables.
- Consuming food that is low in fat and sodium content.
- Eating foods rich in vitamins, specifically vitamins B-12, D, Calcium, and Magnesium.
- Exercising about 2.5 hours of cardiovascular exercise each week.
- Keeping up to date with vaccines.
- Limiting alcohol and smoking use.
- Maintaining a healthy body weight as per your height and age.
- Managing stress.
- Washing hands regularly.
Incorporating these lifestyle changes can reduce the risk of paresthesia from returning or minimizing the occurrence of episodes.
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Find a Way to Feel Again With the Help of Optimum Health Rehab Suwanee
The feeling of numbness and tingling is usually experienced every once in a while, but when they are happening for seemingly no reason, they can be disruptive to your enjoyment of life. At Optimum Health Rehab Suwanee, we understand that losing sensation is frustrating and can be frightening as a more serious underlying medical condition is feared to be the cause.
Let our licensed professionals help you find a way to regain your sensation and leave the sensation of pins and needles behind. If you are ready to get started, reach out to us by calling (678) 546-0550 or submitting our online form to schedule your first appointment.