Definition
In the case of numbness in the finger, a sensory disturbance leads to reduced sensory perception in this area. Sensitive stimuli from this skin area are no longer transmitted to the brain. Therefore this skin area feels like “numb” for the patient.
Sometimes an unpleasant tingling sensation also occurs. In this case there is a malfunction of the nerves. In this case only contradictory stimuli are transmitted to the brain. A numbness often exists only temporarily, but in some cases it is permanent. This depends on the cause.
Associated symptoms
A numbness in the finger can have many different causes. Depending on the cause, it can therefore also occur with the most varied accompanying symptoms. Alarm signs are numbness feelings that occur together with speech or vision disorders.
Sudden paralysis and severe headaches are also warm signals. These accompanying symptoms are indications of serious neurological diseases such as stroke, cerebral hemorrhage or multiple sclerosis. Neck pain as an accompanying symptom indicates a herniated disc in the area of the cervical spine.
If an unpleasant tingling sensation occurs at night in addition to the numbness, carpal tunnel syndrome is suspected. If pain or sensation in the legs are symptoms of the patient, polyneuropathy is more likely. You can read more detailed information on this topic here: Numbness in the handPain is a typical accompanying symptom of numbness in the finger.
On the one hand, numbness occurs more often after cuts or bruises. In the context of these injuries, pain is a completely normal accompanying symptom. However, the pain does not always have to occur only in the finger or hand area.
Theoretically, pain is conceivable in the area of the entire course of the nerve. The sensitive nerves, after all, after they emerge from the spinal cord of the cervical spine, pull along the arm into the hand and fingers. If the nerve is injured at one point, the pain can become noticeable as a shooting, burning pain along the nerve.
A numbness in the finger can therefore be accompanied by arm pain. Back pain is a particularly frequent accompanying symptom. They are usually located in the area of the cervical spine.
This is where the spinal nerves emerge from the spinal cord segments. If a herniated disc presses on a part of the nerves, the patient suffers not only from back pain but also from numbness in the fingers. If this is the case, an orthopedist should be consulted as soon as possible.
This can often be treated conservatively with painkillers, heat application and physiotherapy. Sometimes, however, the disc tissue that injures the nerve must be removed in an operation. Inflammation can also play a role when it comes to numbness in the finger.
On the one hand, the nerve itself can be inflamed. This would be typical for the clinical picture of multiple sclerosis, for example. In this case, the central nervous system is repeatedly inflamed as part of an autoimmune disease.
However, inflammations can occur anywhere in the body. They damage the tissue around them. So if an inflammation occurs in the finger or hand area that is not treated in time, it can eventually also damage the nerves that run there.
All articles in this series: