Skin Tingling: Could it be a symptom of something serious?
We’ve all had that skin tingling sensation that happens when you keep your leg in an awkward position. People will often say, “My leg is asleep,” when this happens. But then, you shake it out, get the circulation back in your leg and it goes away.
What happens, however, when you get that sensation at other times or for seemingly unexplained reasons? Can a skin tingling sensation be a sign of a more serious condition?
Paresthesia
The medical community calls the symptom known as “skin tingling,” paresthesia. Paresthesia is any tingling, numbness, or burning sensation of the skin. Paresthesia is a symptom in a variety of medical conditions.
Most Common Cause of Paresthesia
The most common cause of skin tingling is the one you already know about, pressure to the nerves in the area where you are feeling the tingling or in the spinal cord area where the nerves emanate to that area. Often the tingling happens as blood floods back into the area; sometimes this sensation feels more like a creeping sensation.
If, however, you get tingling sensations in any part of your body that you cannot explain, you should seek the advice of a physician.
Diagnosing Medical Conditions in Which Skin Tingling is a Prominent Symptom
The location, duration, frequency, and quality of the paresthesia are the major consideration when determining the medical cause for the condition. Here then, is an incomplete summary (by location) of various other conditions in which skin tingling is a prominent symptom:
Hands: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
If you have pain, tingling, numbness, burning, or weakness in your wrist, hand, or fingers, this may indicate carpal tunnel syndrome. This condition typically afflicts people whose jobs require them to use their hands to perform a repetitive job activity. Secretaries who do a great deal of typing or data entry, dental hygienists, factory workers and even internet article writers suffer from this condition.
Various Bodily Locations: Swimmer’s Itch
If you’re a swimmer or have recently taken a dip in the ocean, a lake, or a poorly treated pool and you now find that you have a tingling rash, you may have a case of cercarial dermatitis, commonly known as swimmer’s itch. Typically, this rash may also develop into a burning and itching sensation. The bird parasite that causes cercarial dermatitis cannot live on humans but when it affects humans, it creates an allergic reaction.
Starting in Lower Legs: Guillain-Barre Syndrome
Although very rare (approximately affecting one in fifty thousand), Guillain-Barre Syndrome, or GBS, begins with a weakness in the lower legs that often feels like a tingling or numbness. GBS is actually a disease of the immune system. GBS is a disorder that causes the immune system to attack the nervous system and is very serious. If you feel these symptoms, you should go to the doctor as soon as possible.
Extremities: Hypocalcaemia
Hypocalcaemia, or the lack of calcium in the blood, is often characterized by paresthesia in the hands and feet. Muscle twitching and cramping often accompany the paresthesia caused by hypocalcaemia. Since hypocalcaemia does not show symptoms until the later stages, these symptoms are a sign the disease has advanced and needs immediate attention from a medical professional.
Medical Consultation
This small list is just a taste of the variety of conditions involving paresthesia, or skin tingling or numbness. If you are experiencing unexplained skin tingling—whether or not you have other symptoms, you should get it checked out by your doctor. It may be nothing, but it could also be a sign of a serious underlying condition that might progress. Many conditions are time sensitive and failure to act promptly could lead to paralysis, diminished movement and strength--or even death!
Better to be safe than sorry, as the cliché goes!