So, have you ever wondered why you get pins and needles in your hands?
Not sure if its a Doctor problem or a Physio problem? Let us help you out.
Pins and Needles or numbness/burning in your hand is all too common for people with desk jobs or students stuck hunched over books all night!
Is that you?
You might find that symptoms show during the night (burning, painful hands) or as you wake up, or even while you’re sitting at your desk. In some cases the symptoms can become so irritated that they persist constantly. Generally it all comes down to your back, neck and shoulder postures that you have while you’re sitting, and the prolonged periods you stay like this. It’s hard to change your duties at work or reduce your studying amount with deadlines, but fixing your posture and relieving your symptoms is easy for Physiotherapists to help you with.
What are the 4 main causes of pins and needles in your hands?
- Trapped nerves cause but injury to the wrist, elbow, shoulder or neck
- Pressure over the nerve
- Diabetes
- Alcohol abuse.
You might be wondering how we can tell the difference, and how to know if its something your Physiotherapist can treat or more appropriate for a Medical Professional?
Information Physiotherapists want to know is:
- WHEN do you get the symptoms?
- Are symptoms CONSTANT or INTERMITTENT?
- WHERE exactly do you feel it?
- HOW long have you had symptoms for?
So, let’s break this down a little and talk about you – What could be the cause of your Pins and Needles or Numbness?
Ask yourself these questions……….
- Are my symptoms caused by pressure over the nerve?
- When I change pressure in my arm or release my tight watch or clothing it feels better. My symptoms are only there with particular activities.
- What if its a trapped nerve?
- I get symptoms in a pattern – a particular line part of my arm/hand, but I also get neck pain and stiffness and occasionally even headaches too? I might start dropping things and notice weakness in my arms.
- Is it diabetes?
- I have symptoms in all of my limbs, particularly both hands and both feet at the same time and all over, rather than in a particular pattern?
- Could it be alcohol related?
- If you’re thinking it might be more alcohol-related then you may also have symptoms in all of your limbs, some bladder and bowel changes as well as dizziness and other changes all over your body.
Our Physiotherapists are trained to be able to determine which factors are causing your pain. We are able to treat pressure- related and trapped nerves very effectively. When it comes to Diabetes or an Alcoholic Neuropathy, this is when we will send you to a Doctor urgently for treatment. Other more sinister conditions leading to numbness include Stroke and tumours which need to be addressed Medically, however their pattern is much different to musculoskeletal presentations.
Pressure and trapped nerve conditions overlap a lot, they include common conditions such as:
- Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
- Cervical Radiculopathy
- Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
- Spinal Stenosis.
- Other pressure- related conditions include Osteoarthritis in the thumb and fractures in the forearm/ wrist/ hand.
If it sounds like you have any of these conditions above- especially the pressure and trapped nerve- related ones, you need to see a Physio trained in these conditions to get an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan.
The most important thing to remember though is that these symptoms of Pins and Needles or Numbness in the hands are serious and should not be ignored. The longer you put up with them, the harder they are to fix.
So, if you are experiencing symptoms of Pins and Needles or Numbness in your hands either during the day or when you are trying to sleep at night, don’t put up with it. Get a diagnosis of the cause and get on the road to getting it fixed.
Click here to arrange an appointment online or give us a call on 9905 0048 and we can sort it out for you over the phone.
