Cures for Numbness

Numbness, or sensory loss, is a symptom of a wide variety of diseases and disorders. While you may experience its effects in any part of the body, it is most commonly found in the arms, legs, hands and feet. Degrees of numbness range from harmless, temporary occurrences to permanent loss of sensation. Your chances of curing numbness are directly related to the cause of your particular condition.

Causes of Numbness

• A partial list of common causes of numbness includes: direct nerve injury; pressure on nerves of the arms, legs or spinal cord; temporary or chronic lack of blood supply to an affected area; stroke; seizures; migraines; diabetes; Lyme disease; Guillain-Barre syndrome; alcoholism; acoustic neuroma; Raynaud's disease; brain tumor; and aortic aneurysm. Other potential sources of numbness include sports-related injury, various medications, Vitamin B-12 deficiency, radiation therapy, lead poisoning, and abnormal body levels of sodium, calcium or potassium.

Symptoms and Diagnosis

• Classic symptoms of numbness include tingling and loss of sensation, sometimes accompanied by pain or a burning sensation. Obviously, with such a wide array of causes, self-diagnosis can be difficult or impossible. If you experience numbness lasting for any amount of time, you should see your doctor for a proper diagnosis. This is the best way to detect deeper, underlying problems, some of which may be serious or even life-threatening.

  Be especially aware of the way in which your numbness sets in. If you have taken a short nap in an awkward position, or banged your funny bone, chances are your symptoms will be short-lived and indicate no substantial harm. However, certain symptoms and circumstances require immediate emergency care to avoid serious potential consequences. These situations include numbness experienced after a head injury, symptoms that begin suddenly and symptoms that involve an entire leg or arm.

  Sometimes, symptoms accompanying numbness can elevate a situation to an emergency. These cases include the presence of dizziness, difficulty talking, loss of bowel or bladder control, confusion, paralysis and sudden, severe headache. If you experience any of these symptoms, call 911 or get to an emergency room immediately. Additional conditions that warrant quick action include numbness or pain in the neck, and numbness that appears on both sides of the body simultaneously.

  In non-emergency cases, take a little time to analyze your symptoms, since this sort of information can help your doctor make an accurate diagnosis. Things to note include when and where your numbness appears, whether it seems related to certain physical activities, and whether it comes and goes or worsens gradually over time.

Many Potential Treatments

• Depending on the particulars of your symptoms, your doctor may perform a number of different diagnostic tests. These include physical examination, blood tests, X-rays, CT or MRI scans of the head or spine, ultrasound and nerve conduction testing. The results of these tests will help your doctor make a diagnosis, and that diagnosis will determine his choice of treatment. In cases like mildly compressed nerves, treatment may be as simple as behavior modification to avoid re-injury. In cases like diabetes, treatment may involve a lifelong regimen of medication and dietary control.