When the left hand becomes numb, there may be several reasons. Often, when this symptom appears, people experience a feeling of fear, believing that this sensation is the first symptom of a stroke or heart attack.. But is it really so? In this article, we will analyze in detail why the left hand becomes numb and the fingers tingle, what to do in this situation and which doctor should be consulted.

Often the hand becomes numb during sleep, and after a change in body position, the numbness disappears. In this case, there is nothing to worry about. Numbness of the left hand: causes and symptoms Feeling in a certain area of \u200b\u200bthe human body of numbness, burning, creeping. sensitivity disorders, called paresthesia in medicine. The origin of this unpleasant condition is based on a violation of innervation and / or blood circulation, due to various physiological and pathological reasons..

Physiological causes Quite often people experience loss of sensation in the upper limb during sleep. The fact is that when lying on its side, the left or right hand turns out to be pressed against the bed by the body of the body.. This causes compression of blood vessels and nerve endings.. As a result, the person wakes up feeling numb.. It is often accompanied by pain, tingling, muscle weakness.. After changing the position of the body, the blood flow in the upper limb is restored, and the phenomena of paresthesia quickly disappear.

Pathological causes If numbness of the left hand occurs too often or persists for a long time (more than 3-4 hours), this should be considered as a pathological sign associated with diseases of the cardiovascular, nervous or musculoskeletal system.. The table below shows the main diseases accompanied by paresthesia in the left hand, as well as their characteristic symptoms:.

Disease.

Causes and clinical signs.

Carpal tunnel syndrome (tunnel syndrome).

Manifested by persistent pain and numbness of the hand and fingers. With injuries (including chronic microtraumas) and inflammatory processes, the tissues of the wrist joint change and swell. This leads to compression of the median nerve in the carpal canal.. Tunnel syndrome is most often observed in people who, due to their professional duties, perform numerous flexion-extension movements with the hand (conveyor workers, artists, pianists, sign language interpreters, programmers).

Thoracic outlet neurovascular compression syndrome.

It is characterized by numbness of the 4th and 5th fingers, hand, the inner surface of the forearm and shoulder, the development of a violation of the contractile function of the muscles. The cause of these symptoms is compression of the nerve trunks of the brachial plexus and blood vessels by an accessory cervical rib. Much less often compression of the neurovascular bundle occurs due to the abnormal narrowness of the space between the clavicle and the first rib. The most dangerous complication is brachial artery thrombosis and associated gangrene of the arm..

Raynaud's disease.

The disease is based on nervous and humoral disturbances in the regulation of vascular tone.. Pathology predominantly affects the fingers and manifests itself at first as a cold allergy. Upon contact with a cold object, the fingers become numb and pale, red spots appear on them, which later become cyanotic. In advanced cases, tissue necrosis may develop, requiring amputation of the affected fingers.

Angina pectoris, myocardial infarction.

A heart attack often begins with numbness in the left arm.. Very quickly, chest pain of varying severity joins it. In addition, patients complain of dizziness, feeling short of breath, cold sweat, fear of death.. An attack of angina pectoris and myocardial infarction are the most serious forms of coronary artery disease that require immediate treatment..

Transient ischemic attack.

Usually develops against the background of a hypertensive crisis (high blood pressure). The patient develops and rapidly increases the intensity of the headache. Numbness appears in the cheek, neck, shoulder and elbow. Tingling sensation in the fingers may occur. Movement coordination is impaired.

Shoulder-scapular periarthritis.

Inflammatory degenerative disease affecting the soft tissue surrounding the shoulder joint. It manifests itself as aching pains, which are aggravated by moving the hand, compaction and swelling of the muscles of the shoulder region, paresthesia.

Cervical radiculitis (cervical radiculopathy).

Spinal symptom complex resulting from compression or inflammation of the nerve roots of the cervical spine. After a sharp turn of the head or hypothermia, the hand begins to ache or hurt. Areas of paresthesia appear. Motor function is impaired.

Polyneuropathy.

The disease usually affects more than one anatomical area.. Its occurrence is associated with damage to peripheral nerves by various endogenous (formed inside the body itself) and exogenous (coming from outside) toxins. Most often, polyneuropathy is observed in patients with diabetes mellitus, renal or hepatic insufficiency, alcoholism.

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