Aunt Yang is usually in good health. She is busy with housework and taking care of grandchildren at home, and has never had a serious illness. Unexpectedly, a problem has been added recently, that is, my hands are often numb, and my entire left arm is numb. She didn't worry much at first, thinking that it might be because of too much work recently. Unexpectedly, when he was holding his grandson on this day, his arms suddenly felt weak and painful, and Aunt Yang couldn't help but become nervous. After going to the hospital, he was diagnosed with cervical spondylotic radiculopathy.
I believe that everyone has the experience of hand numbness. If you accidentally press your hand while sleeping, it is easy to have hand numbness. However, hand numbness may also be caused by disease. So, what is going on with hand numbness? What diseases should be vigilant? Let me explain it in detail below.
Nerve root type cervical spondylosis
radiculopathy cervical spondylosis cervical spondylosis of the genus. Hand numbness indicates that the sensory nerves that innervate the hands are abnormal, and the sensory nerves that innervate the arms and hands belong to the brachial plexus. The brachial plexus is a bundle of peripheral nerves from the spinal cord of the neck that innervates the sensation and movement of the shoulders, arms, and hands. When cervical intervertebral disc herniation and bone hyperplasia, or the narrowing of the intervertebral foramen itself containing the nerve roots causes nerve compression, they may stimulate the roots of the brachial plexus, causing pain and numbness along the direction of the stimulated nerve. In clinical practice, the proportion of hand anaesthesia caused by nerve root type cervical spondylosis is as high as 70%. It is more common on one side and is the most common disease that causes hand numbness. In other types of cervical spondylosis, the symptoms of hand numbness may not appear.
Transient ischemic attack, stroke
in addition to cervical spinal cord nerves, but can cause problems as well as numbness in the hand of the central part (of the brain) is. If the brain nerves are compressed, numbness and weakness will appear in the innervated area. In mild cases, transient ischemic attack may occur, and in severe cases, it may indicate a moderately high-risk disease of stroke. The symptoms are not limited to numbness of the fingers. The entire arm on one side of the body, and even the legs and face will have various numbness and inconvenience. There will also be symptoms such as difficulty speaking, drooling, dizziness and nausea. If you have these symptoms, you should seek medical treatment in time, comprehensively screen the risk factors of cerebrovascular disease, and give active prevention and treatment.
Carpal tunnel syndrome, cubital tunnel syndrome
The cause of hand numbness can also be a problem with the peripheral tissues, that is, a problem occurs in a certain part of the nerve channel from the neck to the palm of the hand. The nerves to the palm include the radial nerve, the ulnar nerve, and the median nerve. These nerves start from the cervical spinal canal, pass through the joints, ligaments, and bone fiber canals to reach the palm ends. When a certain part of this nerve channel is compressed (ie, compressed), it will cause hand numbness. If the median nerve is compressed at the wrist, carpal tunnel syndrome will occur; if the ulnar nerve is compressed at the elbow, cubital tunnel syndrome will occur.
Carpal tunnel syndrome is commonly known as "mouse hand". Long-term excessive use of fingers, such as long-term use of the mouse or typing, and long-term manual occupations, are the most common. This is also a common cause of female hand numbness. It is manifested as numbness and pain in the thumb, index finger, and middle finger. There is often a history of numbness and awakening at night, and the activities can improve after waking up. In severe cases, it may be accompanied by hand muscle atrophy, which affects the fine movement of the hand.
Cubital tunnel syndrome is more common in people who drive for a long time. Patients often have numbness and pain in the ring finger and little finger, and may also have a history of numbness and awakening at night. In severe cases, they may be accompanied by muscle atrophy. .
Diabetes
numbness in the hand is also possible that there is a problem caused by nerve itself, such as neurology diseases caused by spinal cord lesions, peripheral nerve damage caused by diabetes and so on. Among them, diabetes is more common. Finger numbness on both sides is a common symptom of diabetic peripheral neuropathy. The onset is often symmetrical, similar to the feeling of wearing gloves or wearing socks.
The blood sugar of many diabetic patients cannot be effectively controlled, and various complications have appeared in the early stages of the disease course. Even if there is no history of diabetes before, people with long-term hand numbness should also be screened for diabetes.
Poisoning
numbness in the hand may be peripheral neuropathy of chronic alcoholism performance. People who drink frequently, if they have numbness in their hands and feet, it indicates the possibility of chronic alcoholism. If you don't intervene in time, it can cause dysfunction of the body's various systems, and even irreversible damage.
The lack of B vitamins caused by picky eating can also cause peripheral neuropathy and hand numbness. The same problem can also occur with regular use of certain laxatives and anti-infective drugs.
Late pregnancy, menopausal syndrome
Some pregnant women will feel paroxysmal pain, numbness, needles or burning sensations in one or both hands. Pain and numbness mainly affect the side of the thumb, index finger, middle finger and little finger, leading to loss of fine motor ability of the fingers, usually without other serious consequences. Women who enter menopause sometimes have numbness in their hands. With the end of menopause, hand numbness will disappear.
Other reasons
rheumatoid arthritis, hyperlipidemia, hypertension and the like can also lead to numbness in the hand.
Numbness in the hands of the self-assessment of
how to identify numbness in the hand in daily life it? One way to teach you here is to ask yourself the following 3 questions:
Are there any other discomforts besides hand numbness?
Hand numbness and radiating pain in the upper arm must be considered for the possibility of cervical spondylosis; if it is accompanied by hand inflexibility, such as writing, holding chopsticks, and button buttons, you must consider cervical spinal cord disease. In this case, you should go to the hospital as soon as possible See a doctor. Especially when the lower limbs are accompanied by symptoms, such as numbness of the lower limbs or inflexible walking, it is even more important to consult a doctor as soon as possible to avoid serious sequelae.
Which part of the hand is numb?
The part of hand numbness caused by cervical spondylosis is different from the part of hand numbness caused by peripheral nerve compression. For example, numbness in the thumb, index finger, middle finger, and ring finger may be considered as nerve compression in the wrist joint; or keep the wrist in the maximum flexion position. If there is numbness in the 3 radial fingers within 60 seconds, it may be considered as the carpal tunnel. Syndrome. But if both hands are all numb, like wearing a glove, and you have diabetes at the same time, you should first consider peripheral neuropathy caused by diabetes.
Under what circumstances will the symptoms of hand numbness worsen?
If the aggravation of hand numbness is related to neck movement, consider that the lesion is in the cervical spine; if there is no change in symptoms, the cause of hand numbness may not be cervical spine disease.
In short, if you often feel numbness in your hands, you should not ignore it, go to the hospital in time to find the cause of the disease in order to carry out targeted treatment.
