Tingling in Hands and Feet: What Does it Mean?
If you’ve ever suffered from severe chronic or episodic tingling in your hands and feet, you’re not alone—you are one of over 20 million people in the United States who suffers from these symptoms. You might be experiencing a condition called peripheral neuropathy, so named because the affected nerves are in the body’s extremities, or peripheries, far from the spinal cord and brain.
Of course, there are causes of tingling other than nerve damage. Sleeping on your arm or keeping your legs crossed too long are everyday examples, and once you remove the pressure, the tingling is relieved.
But it’s the long-term tingling that can be the real nuisance. And even if it begins as a minor inconvenience, tingling in hands and feet can worsen until it drastically affects mobility and functioning.
Causes of Tingling
There are myriad reasons your hands or feet might be tingling. They include:
- Injury, often traumatic
- Vitamin deficiencies
Ten people with tingling hands and feet may be experiencing that same symptom for ten different reasons. It’s best not to make assumptions as to their causes; seek medical attention for a diagnosis.
Professional Medical Care
If tingling is something you have had for a long time, or it is severe enough to significantly impact your life, chances are you’ve thought about seeing a doctor. Obtaining a professional diagnosis is the first step in treating the symptom.
After collecting pertinent medical information and running appropriate tests, your physician will work with you to reduce or eliminate the tingling. In most cases, this is possible with solutions as simple as medication or lifestyle changes.
Treatments for Tingling in Hands
One of those lifestyle changes may be a supervised training regime that includes hand strengthening exercises. Nerve damage can usually be reversed as long as the nerve cells are still alive, and an active lifestyle can aid in that recovery.
Incorporating regular hand grip exercise, for example, could be an effective way to combat tingling while simultaneously increasing grip strength.
Only your doctor knows which treatment will be appropriate for you, though—he or she may simply prescribe medication or make recommendations for controlling your blood sugar.
Tingling hands and feet can range from a minor annoyance to a life-altering disability, but it doesn’t always have to be that way. Consult a doctor as a first step in gaining relief from the tingling in your hands and feet.