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Dove fingers - causes, symptoms and treatment
contents
- Nerves and muscles
- diagnosis
- symptoms
- treatment
- prevention
- The carpal tunnel syndrome
Concerned, for example, reports of numb fingers after a move, where they pressed bulky cabinets to the body and the wrists bent at a 90 degree angle to the rear. Even after screwing in a light bulb on the cover lamp on a slightly too short stepladder or after handling car engines show occasional complaints.
This is especially true for various sports, for example, for improper handling of weights in weight training, stretching and bar gymnastics, martial arts such as kendo, gymnastics, yoga, shot put or javelin. Again, the ulnar nerve can easily pinch.
Deaf fingers are disturbed by the perception of pressure and pain, often associated with nerve compression. (Image: Dron / fotolia.com) Nerves and muscles
Rarer are so-called polyneuropathies cause of numb fingers. For example, the nervous system is affected as a result of diabetes mellitus. Alcoholism can also damage the nerves, resulting in numbness. Sometimes the median nerve is limited in its function, for example, by a narrowing.
Muscle tension on the cervical spine also causes numb fingers. Also injuries somewhere between fingers and cervical spine, which damage the Ulnarisnder, can be triggers deaf fingers.
A deficiency of vitamin B 12 affects nerve signal transduction, as vitamin B 12 is necessary to form the protective envelope of the nerve.
The trigger can also be trivial: If we rest long on an elbow or pinch our hand while lying, then a nerve can pinch.
diagnosis
The "first diagnosis" put the affected person and a numbness that does not disappear, is the reason to see a doctor. If the cause is unknown, a neurologist is called in. The measures the nerve lines around the deafened area.
symptoms
The feeling of numbness can be mild, so that those affected perceive stimuli, pain and pressure subdued, or so heavy that they feel nothing at all. As a rule, the symptoms disappear again after a few days, depending on the cause. But beware: If a nerve has become inflamed, then it may eventually lead to the fingers being permanently paralyzed.
treatment
The treatment depends on the cause. A pinched nerve in many cases results in an operation, as the nerve must first be exposed. The doctor then releases the nerve and moves it forward - at least if a narrowed nerve channel is the cause.
A vitamin B12 deficiency can also lead to impaired nerves and numb fingers. (Image: bit24 / fotolia.com) In the case of a vitamin B12 deficiency, which is similar to numbness, but also associated with a tingling sensation similar to sleeping hands, the doctor will recommend vitamin supplements. A lack of vitamin B 12 also causes various other symptoms: Vitamin B12, together with vitamin B6 and folic acid, converts the toxic homocysteine into a non-toxic substance. Now lacking vitamin B 12, the toxin in the blood rises and damages the blood vessels, which can lead to diseases of the cardiovascular system.
A deficiency causes damage to the spinal cord and brain disorders, which lead to involuntary movements - and just to numbness, because the nerves are damaged. The disease spreads mainly in the third world, in the industrialized countries, vegans are the main risk group. The cause: Plants do not produce vitamin B 12. Omnivores get a deficiency of vitamin B 12 mainly due to gastrointestinal diseases.
Symptoms of vitamin B deficiency include limited thinking, depression, confusion, psychosis, altered reflexes, weakened muscles, an inflamed tongue, loss of taste, heart failure and infertility. Autists and schizophrenics have extremely low vitamin B 12 levels. To what extent, however, these trigger the disturbances, has not yet been explored.
Especially B12 contains offal: kidneys, liver and brain. Those who do not like this can resort to poultry, red meat, eggs and fish and consume a lot of milk and milk products.
prevention
You can prevent numb fingers when they exercise, at work, but also when driving or sleeping, making sure to relieve hands and elbows and the cervical spine. Above all, athletes should be wary of warming up and relieving their nerves and muscles before they stress them.
When working on the computer, you should be careful not to distort your hands unnaturally.
Regular massages relieve tension and also have a preventive effect.
The carpal tunnel syndrome
If you feel numbness in your fingers and hand and pain in the upper arm and shoulder, you may be suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome. Here the median nerve is compressed, at the level of the wrist. The carpal tunnel is a tube that runs from the forearm to the wrist on the palm side. The carpal bones below and on the sides, as well as the flexor retinaculum at the top, bound this tube. Not only nine flexor tendons run through this tunnel, but also the median nerve. This controls movements of the fingers and the thumb and passes on the sensations there.
In a carpal tunnel syndrome, numb fingers are a typical symptom. (Image: Henrie / fotolia.com) The neurologists and psychiatrists on the net write about the carpal tunnel syndrome: "Often, numbness and tingling begin at the tips of the first three fingers of a hand - so the thumb, index and middle finger. Over time, mild pain comes along, especially at night or after intense manual labor occur. Affected then often tend instinctively to want to solve the discomfort by shaking the hand "reported Dr.. Curt Beil, from the Professional Association of German Neurologists (BDN) based in Krefeld. Also a muscle weakness of the hand with stiffness of the fingers can appear as symptom. "
If the illness is not stopped, first severe pain sets in and after years the thumb muscles disappear. Those affected can grab with the thumb getting worse. If the pain subsides, this is not necessarily a sign of the all-clear - it can also be an alarm signal that the nerves are badly damaged. Lack of pain here means numbness through dying.
The cause is the same as with many symptoms of numbness in the fingers: Beil explains on the subject portal "neurologists and psychiatrists in the net" that the nerve is "restricted and damaged by constant pressure load through the surrounding tissue of the carpal and their ligament." Usually a malposition and a congestion of the wrist are the cause of the constriction.
Again, there are people who work mainly on computers and endanger athletes. Doctors recommend an ergonomically shaped keyboard and a well-moving mouse, as well as exercises to loosen the wrists.
In between, spread your fingers once, clench a fist or shake your fingers.
Other causes include hormone fluctuations during pregnancy and menopause, rheumatic diseases and metabolic diseases.
A neurologist recognizes whether it is the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or a damaged cervical spine that causes similar symptoms. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)
Specialist supervision: Barbara Schindewolf-Lensch (doctor)