What is paresthesia a sign of?

Are you experiencing strange sensations like numbness, tingling, or burning in your limbs? Don’t worry, it’s not because the aliens are trying to communicate with you. You might be suffering from a condition called paresthesia.

Paresthesia refers to an abnormal sensation caused by pressure on the nerves that run through our limbs and body parts. We’ll dive deep into what causes paresthesia and how it’s diagnosed.

Understanding Paresthesia

Imagine making a meme template, but instead of the usual caption boxes or speech bubbles appearing around the characters’ heads. They have pins sticking out of them! Doesn’t sound too funny now does it?

This is similar to what happens in paresthesia where affected regions experience unusual sensations ranging from pricking/needling pain to numbness!

However irritating these pins might seem; they’re merely an indication of something happening inside our bodies.

What Is Happening In Our Bodies When We Experience Paresthesia

Two systems play important roles in sensing input – touch (pressure), temperature, etc – within our bodies

The somatosensory system which consists of nerve receptors spread over various organs all over your body and sends sensory information via the spinal cord) & then onto brain areas responsible for perception.

The nervous system as mentioned before serves as an essential link between these two systems by carrying neural impulses back-and-forth ensuring efficient communication between different parts of our body..

When there’s peripheral damage or dysfunction/damage along either one(i.e., periphery/spinal cord), this solid communication line suffers critically resulting in symptoms like “pins”

Now let’s get down to business shall we…cue Mulan soundtrack

Let us discover some conditions that can lead up to experiencing paresthetic symptoms

  • Carpal tunnel syndrome
  • Diabetes
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Lyme disease

Were you surprised to see tick-borne illness on the list? Just goes to show that those tiny irritating creatures can really cause major problems within our body systems.

Oh, let’s not forget, substance abuse and some medications might also be responsible for paresthesia.

Now What?

“Okay so we know all of these medical terms now but what do I do if I think it’s happening?” asks very concerned reader.

You should schedule an appointment with your doctor or primary care physician as soon as possible! A proper diagnosis is necessary to rule out more severe conditions which present similar symptoms.

If things get worse, trying some other solutions before getting a real diagnosis could potentially further complicate matters.

Treating Paresthesia

There are several ways in which this condition may be effectively treated depending on the root cause:

  1. For diabetics experiencing numbness in their limbs, getting blood sugar levels under control quickly becomes essential.
  2. Maintaining good posture reduces pressure on peripheral nerves.
  3. Carpal tunnel syndrome & related conditions may require injection therapy/repetitive extracorporeal shock wave (rESWT) treatments aimed at directly resolving “pinched” sensory pathways.
  4. In multiple sclerosis cases where the nervous system suffers injury due to self-directed attacks by immune cells causing nerve fiber demyelination potential candidates for immunomodulatory therapies

Unconventional methods like acupuncture and herbal remedies have been known to work as complementary alternatives since ancient times when modern medicine didn’t exist.

Don’t hesitate if your limbs start pins-and-needling; diagnose early and take every precautionary step towards healing yourself!

Stay healthy folks!

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