Paresthesias
| Paresthesia | |
|---|---|
| Classification and external resources | |
| Specialty | Neurology |
| ICD-10 | R20.2 |
| ICD-9-CM | 782.0, 355.1 |
| DiseasesDB | 24182 |
| MeSH | D010292 |
Paresthesia is an abnormal sensation such as tingling, tickling, pricking, numbness or burning of a person's skin with no apparent physical cause. The manifestation of a paresthesia may be transient or chronic.
The most familiar kind of paresthesia is the sensation known as "pins and needles" or of a limb "falling asleep". A less well-known and uncommon but important paresthesia is formication, the sensation of bugs crawling underneath the skin.
Paresthesias of the hands, feet, legs and arms are common, transient symptoms. The briefest, electric shock type of paresthesia can be caused by tweaking the ulnar nerve near the elbow. Similar brief shocks can be experienced when any other nerve is tweaked (a tweaked neck nerve may cause a brief shock-like paresthesia toward the scalp). In the older age group, spinal column irregularities may tweak the spinal cord briefly when the head or back is turned, flexed, or extended into brief uncommon positions (Lhermitte's sign). The most common, everyday cause is temporary restriction of nerve impulses to an area of nerves, commonly caused by leaning or resting on parts of the body such as the legs (often followed by a pins and needles tingling sensation). Other causes include conditions such as hyperventilation syndrome and panic attacks. A cold sore outside the mouth (not a canker sore inside the mouth) can be preceded by tingling because a cold sore is caused by herpes simplex virus. The Varicella zoster virus (Shingles) also notably may cause recurring pain and tingling in skin or tissue along the distribution path of that nerve (most commonly in skin, along a dermatome pattern, but sometimes feeling like headache, chest or abdominal pain, or pelvic pain).
Other common examples occur when sustained pressure has been applied over a nerve, inhibiting or stimulating its function. Removing the pressure typically results in gradual relief of these paresthesias. Most pressure-induced paraesthesia results from awkward posture, such as engaging in Cross-legged sitting for prolonged periods of time.
Chronic paresthesia indicates a problem with the functioning of neurons or poor circulation.
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