'Pins And Needles' May Tell You Some Serious Nerve Problems

Have you experienced a burning sensation in your limbs—an intense numbness where it feels like being pricked with thousands of needles? You could be experiencing paresthesia. This is the tingling feeling when you put too much pressure on your arms, legs, feet and hands where your peripheral nerves are pressed or damaged.

What does it tell if you have this abnormal sensation? According to WebMD, paresthesia or commonly termed as "pins and needles" can be temporary or chronic. This commonly happens when you cross your legs causing pressure on some nerves or you may have slept on one side putting too much pressure on your hand.

Temporary:

Unbalanced electrolytes in the body also cause numbness and paresthesia. This can be diagnosed by a doctor through a blood test according to LiveStrong.

If you have too much potassium in your system, you could be having a hyperkalemia which is caused by a kidney problem. This results in a tingling sensation in your hands.

If you have electrolyte imbalance, you could also be low in sodium and magnesium which also causes a tingling sensation and worse is muscle cramps and seizures.

Another cause is that you are low in calcium. Just like other symptoms, you will experience a tingling sensation not only in your hands but also in your feet and lack of calcium also causes muscle spasms.

The best ways to prevent electrolyte imbalance is to keep your body hydrated and take some vitamins and mineral supplements.

Chronic:

For chronic cases, this may tell you that you have some signs of nerve damage resulting from injuries or trauma or could be an underlying neurological disease. This may also be a symptom of some more dangerous disease like tumor pressed up in the spinal cord or in the brain.

Some people who are experiencing chronic paresthesia may be a candidate of stroke and multiple sclerosis where the covering membrane of nerve cells in the brain are severely damaged. If a person often experiences long-term paresthesia, it's recommended to see a specialist right away.

Paresthesia can be treated in many ways but it depends on the diagnosis and severity of the case. Doctors may recommend you to have a change in lifestyle or worse is going through surgery.