Muscle twitching, numbness, tingling can be quite harmless sensations. Sometimes, however, they are signs of nerve damage that needs to be treated: Fingers go numb and hands become furry, legs tingle, eyelids twitch, and pudding tastes like soap. Sometimes nerve disorders can really get on your nerves. That’s because this is where the causes of insensations such as numbness, twitching, tingling or unusual smells and tastes lie.
Disorders caused by nerve damage
Everything a person sees, hears, touches, tastes, feels or smells must be transmitted by the nerves and processed in the brain. And everything done by the body must be transmitted from the brain to the muscles via the nerves. It is not surprising, therefore, that when nerves are damaged, there can be insensations and movement disorders.
This is also possible when the nerves are no longer properly supplied due to circulatory disorders, such as in diabetic polyneuropathy, a nerve damage that can occur as a result of diabetes.
Many correlations
Neuropathies can occur in many contexts. Many are harmless, such as the furry feeling on the hands, but others can be serious conditions, such as diabetes mellitus or the tick-borne infectious disease Lyme disease. A nervous twitching of the body occurs from time to time, for example, in almost everyone before falling asleep. This can happen without being consciously aware of it.
However, it is noticeable on the eyelid, for example. If someone is worried about their eyelid twitching or if the twitching occurs repeatedly for several weeks in a row, they should go to the doctor. In most cases, a discussion with the expert can quickly clarify whether there is more behind it – for example, hyperthyroidism. As a rule, however, the twitching is harmless. The cause can be, for example, a lack of minerals, as occurs with heavy sweating. Rest and electrolyte-containing drinks can help here.
But diarrhea or medication can also contribute to an electrolyte shift in the body that leads to trembling or twitching. Sometimes even hyperventilation – rapid breathing due to excitement, panic, stress or anxiety- is enough to trigger physical symptoms.
Serious causes of paresthesias
On the other hand, however, the insensations are not always harmless. Damage to nerves outside the spinal cord or brain, known as polyneuropathy, also usually begins insidiously with tingling or sensory disturbances in the feet and hands, which can later affect the entire legs and arms.
