How to treat finger numbness

Feeling numb in finger? Don’t wait for it to die down, visit a doctor as soon as you can. It need not always have a serious underlying problem, but it is the doctor who needs to rule that out. It must also be hampering your day to day work.

Feeling of numbness in finger and hand can be incapacitating and may have serious implications. It may be sudden or a continuous feeling coupled with tingling and a pin-prick sensation. It can arise out of many conditions. Damage or irritation to nerves, compression of nerves or a branch of nerves, etc.

Causes of numbness
Numbness in finger may have a diverse origin.

• Damage to nerve
  The nervous system of your body has branched out to every organ of your body except some like nails, hair, etc. There are nerves in your fingers as well. If these nerves or one of the branches of these nerves somehow get damaged, you may have a numbing sensation on your finger.

Factors that may damage nerves in finger
There are a lot of forces in play that can wreak havoc with the nervous system.

• Diabetes
  If you are suffering from diabetes, then you are susceptible to peripheral neuropathy. In peripheral neuropathy, the nerves in the peripheral regions of your body are damaged. This may lead to loss of sensation or numbness in your hands, finger, feet, and legs. In fact, it has been seen that about 60% of those suffering from diabetes are susceptible to finger numbness, hand numbness, leg numbness, etc. However, you can prevent this if you can keep a check on your blood sugar level.
• Accident or trauma
  An accident or a trauma to your hands or fingers may also damage the concerned nerves. This may lead to loss of sensation or numbness in fingers.
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
  Nerve compression due to carpal tunnel syndrome is one of the most common causes of finger numbness. The nerve that supplies sensation to your hands and fingers and provides control to your fingers is known as the Median nerve. This nerve passes through a narrow tunnel in your wrist known as the carpal tunnel. If the tunnel becomes narrow due to some kind of swelling inside it, the median nerve becomes compressed. This is known as carpal tunnel syndrome. This can cause a feeling of tingling, weakness, and numbness in every finger of your hands except the little finger. There is a different nerve for the little finger, and that is why it is not affected by carpal tunnel syndrome. Most commonly the index finger, the middle finger, the thumb and a portion of the ring finger is affected by this syndrome.
• Cervical radiculopathy
  If a certain cervical nerve root, which is responsible for supplying sensory stimulus to corresponding muscles of your hands and fingers, become compressed due to inflammation or compression in the spine, you may experience finger numbness. You may also feel tingling, pain, and weakness.
• Ulnar nerve entrapment
  The nerve that provides sensation to the little finger is known as the ulnar nerve. This nerve may become compressed due to some abnormality in the cubital tunnel at the elbow. In that case, you may lose sensation and have a feeling of numbness in the little finger and a part of the ring finger.
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
  Arthritis may also give rise to finger numbness. In fact, rheumatoid arthritis may induce carpal tunnel syndrome and therefore precipitate compression of the median nerve. This may give rise to numbness in fingers except for the little finger and a portion of the ring finger.
• When it is an emergency
  If you are experiencing finger numbness alone and there is no other associated problem, then it is hardly a serious problem. It is most likely the result of some kind of nerve compression, whether it is ulnar nerve, median nerve or cervical nerve roots. But if you are experiencing other conditions like difficulty in breathing, a state of confusion, severe headache, slurred speech, sudden weakness or a condition of paralysis, dizziness, etc. and then you must report to the doctor immediately. This may have some underlying medical condition.
• Right diagnosis is very important
  Right diagnosis for your finger numbness is essential for right treatment. There is precedence when incidences of cervical radiculopathy, carpal tunnel syndrome, and rheumatoid arthritis have been misinterpreted and mistaken for each other. This is mostly because of similar symptoms. So you must go through the whole assortment of physical examination, nerve conduction studies, MRI, blood tests and other imaging studies. This can help the doctor delineate one from the other and arrive at the accurate diagnosis.