Are your fingertips numb and swollen?

In daily life, fingers are one of our more important organs. We cannot live without hands in our daily life. If there is a problem with the human fingers, our hand function will also be affected. Swollen fingers are a very common phenomenon in life. Generally, swollen and numb fingers are mostly caused by poor blood circulation. If you want to relieve the numbness and swelling of the fingers, it is best to go to the hospital to find out the cause and then treat it symptomatically.

The dangers of numbness in hands

1. Lateral protrusion type

Due to irritation or compression of the cervical spinal nerve roots, unilateral radicular symptoms occur. In mild cases, there will be numbness in the area innervated by the cervical spinal nerves (i.e. the affected upper limb). In severe cases, there may be severe pain in the area innervated by the affected nerve segment, such as a knife-like or burning pain, accompanied by a tingling or electric shock-like numbness. The pain symptoms may be aggravated by coughing.

2. Paracentral protrusion

There are symptoms of unilateral nerve root and spinal cord compression.

3. Central protrusion type

This type has no symptoms of cervical spinal nerve involvement and manifests as bilateral spinal cord compression. Early symptoms are mainly sensory disturbances or movement disorders, while in the late stage they are manifested as incomplete spastic paralysis due to damage to upper motor neurons or nerve bundles to varying degrees, such as clumsy gait, slow movement, unstable walking, and often a feeling of being restrained in the chest and waist. Severe cases may be bedridden, and even have difficulty breathing, and incontinence of stool and urine. So seek timely treatment.

Why do elderly people feel numbness in their hands and feet?

1. Malnutrition

Long-term gastrointestinal dysfunction and reduced food intake can cause the body to lack adequate protein and vitamins. In particular, a lack of B vitamins can lead to nutritional and metabolic dysfunction and a slowdown in nerve conduction, causing peripheral neuritis and radiculopathy, resulting in numbness of the hands and feet. The elderly need to strengthen their dietary regulation to make their food easy to digest and promote absorption.

2. Arteriosclerosis

For people with cerebral arteriosclerosis, the speed of nerve conduction will slow down, the local blood and oxygen supply to the brain will decrease, and central dysfunction will occur. In particular, ischemia and hypoxia dysfunction in the central nervous system can cause numbness in the corresponding limb parts. This type of numbness in the hands and feet is often unilateral and paroxysmal. As the condition of blood vessels improves, the numbness symptoms may naturally improve or disappear after a few hours or days. For some patients, if numbness on one side is accompanied by weakness in the limbs on the same side, they need to be hospitalized promptly to avoid developing hemiplegia.

3. Side effects of drugs

People who suffer from multiple diseases may also take multiple medications at the same time. Among them, antibiotics such as sulfa, furazolidone, furazolidone, ofloxacin, anti-tuberculosis drugs such as remifentanil and ethambutol, and chemotherapy drugs such as vinblastine may induce peripheral neuritis and cause limb numbness if the dose is too large or the medication time is too long. This numbness usually starts from the hands and feet, then gradually spreads upward, and is often accompanied by hyperesthesia or paresthesia. Therefore, the dosage should be strictly controlled when taking these drugs.