What is a tingling leg?
A tingling leg is a typical example of a sensation or sensory disorder. In technical terminology, this is known as a sensory disorder, more precisely as paresthesia. This type of sensory disorder develops on the surface of the body, where nerve endings lie in the skin.
These are actually there to transmit certain stimuli (e.g. touch) along the corresponding nerve tract to the brain. If this nerve path (= nerve) is damaged somewhere in its course, this tingling sensation can be triggered. Patients often describe it in very different ways, some report ants walking on their legs. Others speak of a burning or electrifying sensation.
Causes
The cause of a tingling leg is a nervous disorder. The nerve that supplies the skin on the leg is irritated. Usually this can happen along its entire length (e.g. due to a herniated disc at spinal cord level).
Another basic disease that can lead to this is circulatory disorders. If a vascular disease leads to reduced blood circulation in the legs, the nerves are also not supplied with sufficient blood. This often leads to a burning tingling sensation and other painful sensitivity disorders.
In addition, Restless Legs Syndrome can cause a tingling sensation in the leg. In this disease the symptom occurs mainly at night. Fibromyalgia, an autoimmune disease, can also cause tingling in the lower extremities in addition to pain.
Chronic alcohol consumption or a vitamin B12 deficiency leads to just such complaints due to a defective regeneration of the nerves and their protective structures. Last but not least, one should think of secondary diseases of diabetes mellitus and diseases of the central nervous system (multiple sclerosis, stroke, Parkinson’s disease). Problems in the spinal column area very often lead to tingling in the legs.
On the one hand, even harmless muscle tension in the area of the thoracic and lumbar spine can lead to these discomforts. A narrowing of the bony canal through which the spinal nerve exits the spine (spinal canal stenosis) also leads to these complaints. Therefore, a herniated disc in the lumbar spine may not always be the cause.
However, if there is back pain in addition to a tingling leg, you should urgently consult a doctor. The bulging parts of the disc cause pressure on the nerves exiting the spinal cord. This leads to a tingling in the legs.
On the other hand, it can also lead to restricted movement and paralysis. In this case, surgery is usually performed during the course of the operation. The bulging disc tissue is removed.
This relieves the pressure on the nerve fibres. A thrombosis is an occlusion of a vessel with a blood clot. This occurs very often in the deep veins of the leg.
This is called deep vein thrombosis (DVT). A thrombosis usually leads to a swelling of the affected extremity. The leg is often reddened and slightly overheated.
There is also pain. Some patients describe this as just a feeling of tension. A tingling sensation can therefore certainly also occur.
It can therefore be stated that a tingling leg is not a classic symptom of thrombosis. However, one should know that only in about 50% of patients these classic signs of thrombosis are true. A tingling leg could also be an initial symptom of multiple sclerosis.
In this disease, the affected persons often complain of tingling and numbness in the face and limbs. The disease can manifest itself with numerous symptoms, depending on which part of the central nervous system is affected by the breakdown of the myelin sheath. Next to sensitivity disorders, visual disturbances are the second most common symptom in these patients. In order to diagnose multiple sclerosis, the symptoms, the course of the disease and the brain imaging examination must be assessed together.
