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Causes of numbness in fingers

, medical expert
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
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Hands no longer feel and obey their master, partially or completely losing tactility. Unpleasant feeling. A person does not "feel the hands" - people say. So what are the causes of numbness in the fingers? What to do and how to help yourself to regain "old feelings"? Only a qualified specialist can answer this question.

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Causes of numbness in fingers at night

To lose the opportunity to feel is unpleasant, and sometimes frightening. But if this happens for the first time, do not panic immediately, because the causes of numbness in fingers at night can be completely different.

  • The first and quite common cause of loss of sensitivity of the upper limbs of a person becomes an uncomfortable posture during sleep. The posture in which the blood vessels are transported, in connection with which, the flow of blood to the phalanx of the fingers is hampered - say "the hand went numb". In this case, it is sufficient to resume the blood flow so that the fingers' tactility is restored. At the first moment of blood flow, the "victim" begins to feel a tingling and a slight itch in the limbs. Over time, it passes.
  • Another reason for the numbness of the fingers of the night is the uncomfortable, restraining movement and the body itself of the clothing. It is she who can squeeze blood vessels, disrupting blood circulation.
  • "Enough" hands are capable and if a person sleeps with brushes thrown over his head, or in any other posture, when the upper limbs are located above the level of the heart.
  • If a person's professional activity is associated with monotonous, repetitive actions, raising the upper limbs above the level where the heart is located, in such a situation, the heart needs to create a pushing pressure of greater significance to bring the blood flow to the fingers. And since there is not enough pressure, the phalanges suffer from a shortage of blood supply. And as a result - numb fingers.
  • The same symptomatology can be observed after a prolonged wearing of a heavy load.
  • Provoke numbness of limbs can hyperventilation. This shallow, very frequent breathing, which occurs at the time of fear or any other negative excitement, as well as due to some disease.
  • The cause of numbness of the fingers at night can be an uncomfortable bed: a mattress, a pillow. In this case, I would like to advise the respondent to purchase orthopedic bedding, because a fruitful sleep is not only a great mood for the whole day, but also the health of a resting organism.

But there may be more serious causes of numbness in the fingers at night, associated with pathological changes in the human body.

  • Disturbance of blood circulation.
  • Vascular sclerosis is a disease of the human cardiovascular system, associated with the destruction of the walls of blood vessels by the deposition of cholesterol.
  • As a result of deformation of the intervertebral discs (with osteochondrosis), one can also get a feeling of numbness. In this case, mainly affects the pathology of the cervical spine. It is advisable to consult a neurologist.
  • Syndrome carpal (carpal) canal - a problem resulting from the compression of the median nerve in the carpal canal. This channel is located in the area of the wrist of the human hand. On it pass tendons and nerve fibers, which control the sensitivity of phalanges and palms. If, due to the inflammatory process in the tendon with the formation of swelling, or some kind of mechanical action, the nerve contracts, the blood circulation deteriorates, then the sensitivity of the upper limb is disturbed.
  • Diabetes mellitus is a disease of the endocrine group caused by a lack of insulin (a hormone produced by the pancreas), resulting in an increase in the level of glucose in human blood plasma.
  • Such a symptomatology can also be caused by the jamming of the neuromuscular bundle of one of the muscles in the spasmodic state. This also can happen when lying in an uncomfortable position.
  • The source of numbness of the upper extremities can become malfunctions in the circulation of one of the brain regions. Loss of sensitivity in this case is usually accompanied by high blood pressure. Such a disease requires close attention and long-term treatment. Only after effective therapy can you get rid of the feeling of numbness.

If the numbness of the limbs briefly and rapidly passing, there is nothing to worry about - this is a normal physiologically explainable reaction of the body to the effect. Otherwise, it is not superfluous to consult a therapist, who, if necessary, will refer the patient to a more specialized specialist.

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Causes of numbness in the fingers of the left hand

Now it is worthwhile to examine in more detail the causes of numbness of the fingers of the left hand in order to be able to better diagnose the source of the lesion. Let's determine the most common reasons:

  • Pathological changes in the spine:
    • The consequences of dystrophic degenerative processes localized in the cervical region of the skeleton.
    • Structural deformation of intervertebral disks, leading to infringement of nerve fibers passing along the trunk of the skeleton.
    • Deformation changes that occur in the bone and connective tissues of the spine, resulting from trauma or inflammation.
    • Loads of movement and increased static loads, which the body was exposed to for a long time.
    • The primary cause of this symptomatology is the transmission of the neurovascular plexus.
  • Professional sports.
  • Monotone work, associated with the need for a long time to be in an uncomfortable position.
  • Work, involving a long time to keep your hands hovering, above the level of the heart.
  • Increased stress on the spine.
  • Prolonged muscular tension supporting the skeletal tree of the human body (back and head), which leads to muscle spasms and pressure on nearby trunks of nerve fibers.
  • The consequences of stroke and other disruptions in the bloodstream, affecting the cervical and brain regions (ischemic manifestations).
  • Psycho - emotional causes of numbness of the fingers of the left hand, caused by a stressful situation.
  • Pathology of cardiological character: acute form of coronary syndrome, heart failure of a chronic nature.

In most cases, this symptomatology is observed at night, during sleep, and in the morning. Numbness can capture both the entire brush and the phalanx of the fingers separately. If the symptomatology is rare and when the position changes, then you should not worry, but if the loss of sensitivity is observed regularly, then ignore the problem and postpone the trip to the doctor is not necessary, since this can be a manifestation of a very serious disease.

If there is a loss of sensitivity of the left little finger, then you can somewhat narrow down the list of causes that cause such a symptomatology. This may be due to a strain that binds the muscles of the upper spine and / or muscles of the left hand. In most cases on the roentgenogram, rotational changes and shifts in the location of the cervical or lumbar vertebrae can be observed, which leads to compression of nerve endings.

This symptomatology can also be observed in the case when the skeletal disc is torn and its components fall into the intervertebral canal, while the fibrous ring remains intact. Such a pathology medicine refers to a variety of osteochondrosis, which in the future is able to transform into an intervertebral hernia.

Provoke the numbness of the little finger of the left hand is capable of heart problems.

Loss of sensitivity by the ring finger of the left hand is associated with a compression effect on the nerve cells of the elbow joint. The wrist, elbow and median nerve can suffer in the event of injury or pinching, for example, during the performance of one of the sports exercises. Virtually any degenerative degenerative process associated with the wrist and ulnar nerve, can lead to numbness of the ring finger of the left hand.

If there was no trauma, then the main cause can be considered the elbow nerve pacing, the integrity of the transmitted signal of which can be broken anywhere along the entire passage of the nerve that starts from the spine and ends with the extremity of the phalanx.

If there is a joint loss of sensitivity of the ring finger and little finger, then the fastest, it's a cardiological problem and it's not superfluous to consult a cardiologist.

For therapeutic treatment to be effective, it is necessary to establish the source of the lesion, which will help to make a doctor - a neurologist or specialist in another direction. In order to establish the localization and severity of the lesion of nerve fibers, the doctor can prescribe a study of the cervical spine and elbow or wrist joint. For this purpose:

  • Electrocardiography.
  • X-ray examination.
  • Magnetic resonance imaging.
  • Clinical analyzes.

If the patient has complaints about numbness of the left thumb, it is worth considering the possible damage to the cardiovascular system or osteochondrosis of the thoracic and / or cervical spine. The primary cause of pathological changes is a malfunction in the metabolic processes occurring in the cartilaginous tissue above the voiced sites. In this situation, you can observe and accompanying symptoms:

  • Reducing the strength of muscle contractions.
  • Attenuation of the brush.
  • Can be observed and pain in the shoulder and forearm, pestering the patient from the outside.

The cause of loss of sensitivity by the thumb can also be atherosclerosis. The peculiarity of its manifestation is a decrease in the permeability of the blood vessel, loss of elasticity of its walls, which causes a deterioration in the flow of blood to the extremities.

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Causes of numbness in the fingers of the right hand

When the sensitivity disappears in the fingers of the right limb - this is not a pleasant feeling. Additional discomfort to this situation is added in the sensation of burning, saddening, tingling in the phalanges. The causes of numbness in the fingers of the right hand can be different, but mostly it is associated with neurovascular pathological manifestations developing on the basis of the existing osteochondrosis of the vertebrae of the cervical spine. It also appears against the background of hypertension.

The following causes numbness of the fingers of the right hand:

  • Failures in the work of the circulatory system.
  • Diabetes mellitus and other endocrine changes.
  • Pinching the nerve fiber.
  • Osteochondrosis, progressing in the cervical - thoracic parts of the spine.
  • The pathology of peripheral vessels, provoked by the narrowing of the arteries, which developed as a result of the accumulation of cholesterol plaques on their walls, which significantly reduces the flow of blood to the extremities.
  • Presence of intervertebral hernias.
  • Destruction of the nerve end due to vascular deformity.
  • As manifestations of multiple sclerosis.
  • Migraine caused by vasospasms.
  • Cervical spondylosis is a common name for pathology, manifested in bone structures of the spine and joints, associated with aging of the human body.
  • Avitaminosis and deficiency in the human body trace elements.
  • Injury of the spine, shoulder, forearm, or hand.

Nerve infringement can be received at a long inconvenient position of the right arm: performance of complex actions, transfer of the big loadings, pinching by weight of own body in the course of a dream. In this situation it will be sufficient to change the position of the hand, and the sensitivity will gradually recover. The fact that the numbness begins to pass can be indicated by tingling, running crawl and fever, appearing in the deep tissues of the upper limb.

If the bouts of numbness occur frequently and last at least three minutes, and there is pain symptoms, it is necessary to visit a doctor and undergo an examination and examination, since such a clinical picture can talk about the pathology of the vascular or nervous systems.

If the patient is diagnosed with pernicious anemia (a serious disease that occurs due to a lack of vitamin B12 in the body), the patient feels a loss of sensitivity (fingers or brush as a whole) on both hands. Such a symptomatology is also capable of showing a tumor neoplasm in the region of the brain.

Nervous diseases of a chronic nature (polyneuropathy), which is often a companion of diabetes mellitus, is manifested by a symmetrical loss of sensitivity of the fingers of both extremities, and it is possible to observe the problems of motor activity. The loss of sensitivity of the upper limbs, and in particular of the right arm, can be a consequence of chronic alcoholism, as well as a consequence of various kinds of poisoning.

If, on the background of loss of sensitivity, pale or, on the contrary, blue-violet shade of the upper extremities skin, accompanied by pain symptoms, we can speak about the presence in the patient's history of Raynaud's disease, which the patient could acquire due to prolonged hypothermia or "due to" numerous injuries.

It is enough to observe a joint defeat of the little finger and the ring finger of the right hand - this is an obvious indicator of the mechanical or inflammatory effect on the nerve fiber of the elbow joint. Less commonly, the defeat to which the wrist was exposed (carpal tunnel syndrome) is noted. This disease can occur on the basis of monotonous, same-type, constantly repetitive work (for example, the work of the user of the PC, seamstress, painter and so on). This category of workers can be advised to make periodic breaks in work, filling breaks with a simple finger warm-up and brush as a whole, which activates the process of blood circulation in this zone. In the cold season, gloves should not be neglected, preferably if they are made of natural material.

As observations show, one third of all diseases of the peripheral nervous system occur in neuropathy, one of the symptoms of which is the numbing of the phalanx of the right arm. This is due to the fact that the nerve fibers to the phalanges of the upper limbs pass through special channels that connect the spinal cord to the peripheral nerves. There are physiologically determined places, where this channel decreases in cross section. It is in such narrow places that the nerve thread can be infringed, which leads to tunnel syndrome (or peripheral neuropathy).

The result of the defeat of the cubital canal, which occurs in connection with the squeezing of the ulnar nerve, may be a loss of sensation together in the little finger and in the unnamed finger of the right hand, which is accompanied by pain upon palpation and weakness in the wrist. This pathology can develop due to a prolonged elbow in a bent state, which rests on a hard surface or has a heavy load on the elbow joint. Increased risk of this manifestation have a profession: engineer, musician, jeweler, seamstress, watchmaker, driver and others. Either this can be a trauma, for example, obtained by playing sports.

Ignore the neuropathy of the ulnar nerve is not worth it, because in the case of a progressive pathological process passing in the elbow joint, it is possible to get complete or partial atrophy of the muscle tissue of the upper limb.

In the case of degenerative - dystrophic processes occurring in the cartilaginous tissues of the spine (the manifestation of osteochondrosis), the elasticity of the cartilage substance, its elasticity, shape and other physiological parameters is reduced. This is the cause of nervous jamming. And as a result, the patient begins to pierce the pain in the chest area - neck - shoulders, respectively, pain symptoms extend to the head. At the same time, the person is overcome by fatigue, lethargy, dizziness, a constant noise background is heard in his ears. There may be jumps in blood pressure, mismatch in the movement of various parts of the body, malfunctioning of the vestibular apparatus, before the eyes can fly "midges". Along with this, with osteochondrosis progressing in the cervico-thoracic region, there is often a lack of receptivity of the index finger of the right hand, less often, but there may be a lack of tactility in the thumb.

The index finger may lose sensitivity due to arthritis and arthrosis (epicondylosis) of the elbow joint.

  • Osteoarthritis destroys the joint articular tissue, causing pain symptoms, gradually its mobility becomes more and more limited, there is a compression effect on the blood vessels and nerve endings passing through the ulnar canal - hence the numbness of the phalanges of the fingers, it becomes quite problematic to move not allowing the phalanges to be brought together.
  • Arthritis begins to develop either as a result of heavy loads on the elbow joint, or an infection that has got into the patient's body can become a "provocateur". Such a picture of the pathology causes inflammation, which seizes all the tissues of the elbow. In connection with this, the conductivity of nerve impulses decreases significantly and, as a result, the index finger loses sensitivity.

If you hear complaints of the patient for a slight loss of sensations of the index phalanx, and in parallel with this a person does not feel the middle finger of his right hand, then doctors can talk about structural disorders in the tissues. This entails and functional disruptions in the muscles and disks of the neck, intervertebral tissues. As a result of which the nerve endings are squeezed, the signal passing through them weakens and, having received no proper nutrition, the phalanx begins to lose sensitivity. Often such a failure is accompanied by painful symptoms in the area of the shoulder and forearm.

The average phalanx can also lose its sensitivity due to the neuropathy of the peripheral zone obtained by disturbing the integrity of the distal processes of the nerve receptors of the radial nerve. The root cause of the pathology is the rupture or damage of the nerve fiber obtained during the stretching, subluxation of the elbow joint or carpal tunnel syndrome.

Causes of numbness in fingertips

If the person in the dream "lain" the hand and in the morning feels the lack of sensitivity of its unequal endings, it is often sufficient to stretch the joints, doing an uncomplicated morning exercise and all the sensations are restored. But the causes of numbness of the fingertips can come from such pathologies:

  • Provoke numbness may osteochondrosis of the cervical vertebrae.
  • The root cause of discomfort is the lack of iron in human blood plasma.
  • The culprit of numbness in the tips of the phalanx of the upper limbs is diabetes.
  • A pancreatitis can cause a loss of sensation.
  • If the patient's professional activity is associated with monotonous work, burdened with the constant need to keep his hand in suspense. In this case, it is not superfluous to periodically give your hands rest, stretching them or doing a special exercise. Do not forget that if during half an hour the phalange's sensitivity does not recover, then the person risks losing the functionality of the upper limb.
  • This symptomatology is shown by Reynaud's syndrome, which is formed due to prolonged frostbite or numerous injuries and fractures to which the arm was exposed. With this disease there is a violation of normal blood circulation, which leads to a loss of sensitivity. As it is not strange, but this pathology is more typical of the fair sex. Do not let your hands freeze. For this, in the cold season it is worthwhile to use gloves, it is desirable that they are made of natural materials.
  • Often, the cause of numbness of the fingertips are diseases associated with the dysfunction of the glands of internal secretion.
  • To bring to such pathology are capable and diseases of joints of various genesis.
  • Venous blood congestion can also provoke the loss of sensitivity of the phalanx pads.
  • This pathology can also be a consequence of hypertension - high figures of blood pressure.
  • The reason for this symptom is polyneuropathy.

In any case, it is worthwhile to know a few simple exercises that will take a little time, but will help to activate blood flow and restore the susceptibility of the fingers.

  1. This exercise can be done both sitting and standing. It is necessary to raise both hands up and do a few shaking movements, after which they can be lowered. Do ten such approaches.
  2. The following exercise can also be done in any position (sitting and standing). Upper limbs dilute to the side and, elongated, raise parallel to the floor. We do rotational movements first clockwise, and then counter-clockwise. Make ten approaches.
  3. The position of the body is similar to the previous exercise. Hands parallel to the floor, the phalanx of the fingers assembled into a fist. We start the rotational movements in the wrist first clockwise, and then counter-clockwise. Do ten such rotations.
  4. Sit directly on a chair or stool. Do rotational movements of the head: first one way, then the other, then top to bottom and back. But it is worth noting that this exercise is necessary without jerks, smoothly and slowly. You need to repeat it ten times.
  5. Fold your arms in front of your chest so that the palm of your right hand touches the palm of your left limb and rubs one hand on the other.
  6. The same position, but only the pads of the fingers touch. Massage, crush them each other.
  7. With one hand, massage the fingers and palm of the other. Then you swap your arms.

If there is such an opportunity, it will not be superfluous to do this gymnastic unit three times throughout the day.

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Causes of Numbness in the Thumb

Karpos - in translation from Greek it is a wrist, therefore, accordingly the syndrome of the carpal canal is directly connected with the problems taking place in this area. Depending on the degree of damage, this pathology affects the loss of sensitivity of the phalanx of the thumb, as well as the middle, index and partially ring fingers. In this situation, there is a compression effect on the median nerve, passing through the carpal tunnel.

Other causes of numbness of thumb:

  • To provoke this symptomatology may be prolonged one-type movements, weighed down by the load.
  • To induce numbness is also capable of uncomfortable static position of the body and in particular of the wrist joint of the hands (work on the computer, piano playing, driving vehicles, jewelry and others).
  • Stenosing ligamentosis of the transverse ligaments - due to heavy loads on the upper limbs, begins to swell the connective tissue of the wrist. Edema exerts pressure on the trunk of nerve fibers, often weakening or completely interrupting the pulse passing through the fibers to the nerve endings. This causes the loss of sensitivity and stiffness in the movements of phalanges.
  • The causes of numbness of the thumb can become and such pathologies as:
    • Arthritis.
    • Hemangioma is a tumor that progresses from the blood vessels.
    • Osteoarthritis.
    • Neurofibroma is a benign tumor that develops from the nerves.

Do not forget that if the numbness does not pass for 30 minutes - this is a signal that encourages you to go to the doctor. After ignoring the problem leads to an aggravation of the pathology and can result in atrophy of the muscles of the thumb.

As can be seen from the article, the causes of numbness in the fingers are quite diverse. Some of them do not introduce pathological changes into the human body and it is enough only to change the pose and to warm up well, as the problem is solved independently. But if there is a concomitant symptomatology, numbness of the fingers makes discomfort in your life quite often, then do not expect the problem to resolve itself. In such a situation, the help of a specialist is clearly needed. After all, only he can assign the necessary package of examinations, analyze their result and draw up effective treatment.

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