The other day I was standing for a long time – first in a rehearsal for over an hour, then after a brief sit down, singing in a concert for nearly an hour – and realised that I was getting pins and needles down my left leg.
It’s something I often ask patients about, if they have neck or lower back pain, and my own experience got me thinking about the different causes and triggers for this tingling sensation that we all get from time to time. Essentially it’s usually related either to poor blood flow, or some kind of nerve limitation or reaction.
You’re sitting on the ground with your legs tucked under, maybe for a picnic, or clearing out a low cupboard, which stops the free flow of blood. When you stand or hobble up, back rushes the blood, and bingo – pins and needles!
Similarly, you may have Raynaud’s Disease with poor circulation to your hands (or feet), where they go variously white or blue as the blood flow slows, or red as the blood comes back. Brisk exercise can help, eg dancing or power walking; also breathing exercises – or even singing! Plus keeping warm, and having gloves or fingerless mitts to hand.
At the other end of the spectrum, we have over-breathing, or hyperventilating, where you get a tingling feeling, more in the face and head, as well as the hands. This might be linked to anxiety or a panic attack. The classic tip here is to breathe into a paper bag, which helps the relative levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood to stabilise. It’s also something I’ve experienced in a singing lesson! – where I am doing lots of deep breathing but not much overt physical exertion. It soon calms down and goes away.
Or there may be some kind of nerve pressure – whether from a bulging disc in your spine, or local inflammation of muscles or ligaments which causes a swelling and an increase in pressure in a restricted space. This can be coming from your neck or your lower back.
Or maybe you have had a fall, or some kind of crush injury: this can sometimes bring on tingling from damaged nerves.
Also if you have arthritic changes in your spine, this can create rough bony edges that the coverings of nerves (the nerve sheath) can rub against, and this too can bring on pins and needles.
As can too much alcohol! Another reason to exercise moderation . . .
Tingling can also be an early warning sign of shingles, and here it can strike anywhere on the body, it can be on your torso or your hips, on your face or your scalp, less commonly down an arm or a leg. With shingles the tingling can also have an itchy quality which sets it apart from other nerve or blood causes.
Chemotherapy has many and myriad side effects, as I know only too well, and one of them can be pins and needles, particularly in the hands and/or feet. This can progress into peripheral neuropathy, where you get burning hands and/or feet – most unpleasant, as I can testify!
Tingling in the hands and particularly feet can also be a symptom of diabetes, especially when poorly managed. Diabetics can get numbness in their feet as well, which means they don’t always realise that they have injured their feet in some way. Regular chiropody is a must.
And the most serious condition that I come across in my practice where tingling is a symptom is Multiple Sclerosis. Fortunately, my MS patients all have regular check-ups and contacts in case of flare-up.
And as for my own pins and needles that I had the other day – I think they were due to a mixture of poor circulation with all the standing, some hyperventilating from lots of deep breathing and breath control, plus some aggravation from my arthritic back!
Many of the causes that I have spoken about can be helped with osteopathy – where I can stretch out tight muscles and gently stretch and ease stiff joints; also using my cranial approach to calm down your stressed central nervous system.
Plus of course advice on stretching exercises, and the best use of hot and cold for calming down inflamed areas, or improving your circulation.
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In North Herts, I see patients in Baldock, SG7, and in SE London: in Bromley, BR1.
If you would like to book an appointment, or have a chat with me about your symptoms and how I can help you, text me on 07535 350 343