Numb fingertips problem

Normal or Not?

Most of us know that our fingers tend to go numb once we expose them to excessive cold, like when going out in the winter and having fun in the snow. Whenever our hands get cold more than they should, we may experience this strange sensation which vanishes once we get into a warm environment. All this is completely normal. However, if your fingers get numb even when you are not cold, or if they get pale along with the numbness, there might be something more serious at hand. Namely, whenever your fingers act strange and lose sensation, have changes in color or the numbness spreads throughout your hands causing pain, there is a high likelihood that an underlying illness is causing these symptoms. Muscle cramps, tenderness, tingling sensation, or, any similar feelings all add on to the list of these indicators.

Reasons Behind Fingertip Numbness

The most common cause of fingertip numbness is the carpal tunnel syndrome. We all have a tunnel in this part of our wrist which, after years of overuse and straining gets pressured too much, damaging other nerves and possibly triggering inflammations. Therefore, due to excessive finger use through keyboard typing, piano playing and similar actions, we risk the development of this condition as well as the numbness in our fingertips.

Sometimes, conditions like arthritis and similar may narrow our blood vessels and reduce the blood flow to our fingertips. Deprived of sufficient blood, our fingertips go numb. Smokers and those who spend a lot of their time among people who smoke may get their blood vessels clotted and thus end up with the same symptoms as the above mentioned.

Additionally, people suffering from diabetes, lupus, multiple sclerosis and many other conditions may have numbness in their fingertips as one of the side-effects accompanying their illnesses. Finally, suffering from frostbite may have the same result, with possibly catastrophic outcomes due to tissue destruction.

Possible Treatment

If an underlying illness is behind this condition, treating it will help the fingertips as well. Also, anti-inflammatory drugs, prescribed by a doctor after examining you, can help reduce the numbness. Blood medication may also help if the problem is related to either clotting or other type of blockage. Alternatively, one may massage the numb fingertips in order to trigger the blood flow and restore sensations. Restraining one from using the troublesome fingers is mostly recommended for the recovery to be successful. If all else fails, a surgical intervention is a must, where the reason behind the numbness is found and dealt with, removing the problem and restoring proper sensations to one's fingertips.