What causes the feeling of "pins and needles"?

1 ANSWERS

1. Brett
   

   Called paresthesia, pins and needles are caused by blocked blood flow to a pressed nerve. If you sit too long in an awkward position—or even just with your legs crossed—you may press hard enough on a nerve to interrupt its signaling to the brain, causing your feet, for example, to "fall asleep," or go numb. This is not the same as a pinched nerve, a longer-lasting condition that occurs when a part of the body, swollen because of injury or misalignment, applies steady pressure on a nerve. Paresthesia is usually felt in the extremities—hands, feet, and ankles. That crazy-making prickly sensation is the resumption of pain messages to the brain. Simply changing your position is almost always enough to allow the nerve to resume communication. But prickly feelings more rarely can be symptoms of diseases as diverse and serious as diabetes, lupus, and MS. If your pins and needles don't resolve quickly with a change of body position, see a doctor.

   Report (0) (0)  |   12 years, 10 month(s) ago