What's wrong with my fingers being numb and painful

Many times, patients simply ignore the symptom of numbness in the fingers, because in their opinion, numbness in the fingers is just a symptom caused by temporary lack of blood circulation. However, if the numbness in the fingers is accompanied by pain, patients must pay considerable attention. Because now you understand the cause of numbness and pain in your fingers, you will know how serious this symptom is.

1. Cervical spondylosis

To be precise, it is the radiculopathy type cervical spondylosis that can cause numbness in the hands. In addition to numbness in the hands, some patients may also experience arm pain, which is sometimes very severe and seriously affects sleep and daily life. The treatment mainly includes cervical traction, nerve nutrition, swelling reduction, analgesia and other symptomatic treatments. Conservative treatment is generally effective and very few patients require surgical treatment.

2. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Due to the increased pressure in the carpal tunnel, the median nerve in the carpal tunnel is compressed, affecting the conduction function and causing numbness of the fingers, mainly the thumb, index finger, middle finger and half of the ring finger close to the thumb. The symptoms are relatively typical and can be clearly diagnosed by combining upper limb electromyography. Pay attention to distinguish it from cervical spondylosis. For the first onset of the disease, symptomatic treatments such as wrist immobilization, nerve nutrition drugs, and physical therapy and hot compresses can be given. If conservative treatment is ineffective, surgery to release the median nerve is required, which has a definite effect.

3. Cubital Tunnel Syndrome

The main lesions occur on the inner side of the elbow joint, where the ulnar nerve runs. Chronic strain and elbow valgus deformity can cause the ulnar nerve to be compressed and thinned, which is mainly manifested as numbness of the skin on the little finger and ring finger close to the little finger. Conservative treatment is generally ineffective, so early ulnar nerve release and anterior transposition surgery is recommended.

4. Ulnar tunnel syndrome

It is rare clinically. The characteristics of finger numbness are similar to those of cubital tunnel syndrome and are sometimes difficult to distinguish. It can be distinguished in combination with electromyography. The main treatment method is still surgical release.

5. Syringomyelia

This type of disease is rare and often manifests as periodic skin sensory disorders. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish from carpal tunnel syndrome, cubital tunnel syndrome, and ulnar tunnel syndrome. A cervical spine MRI is required for a definitive diagnosis. The treatment is rather troublesome, and neither conservative nor surgical treatment has satisfactory results.

6. Thoracic outlet syndrome

It is rare in clinical practice and easily misdiagnosed and missed. It manifests as brachial plexus damage and atypical finger numbness. Electromyography examination often cannot help to make a clear diagnosis. It needs to be diagnosed in combination with clinical examination. The main treatments are closed treatment and surgical treatment.