Chiropractic Care for Numbness and Tingling in Hands

Numbness and tingling are unpleasant sensations that people can sometimes feel in their fingers, hands, arms, legs, feet, and toes. This numbness and tingling in the hands are the ‘needles and pins’ feeling people have when there has been a reduced level of blood circulation to some bodily area.

One of the most common causes of numbness and tingling in the hands is that external pressure has occurred, constricting the blood vessels in the area. It’s also possible for the nervous system to be injured in one area of the body, causing numbness and tingling in another part. For instance, you can experience a neck injury that will cause you to feel tingling in your hands or arms. Or similarly, you could have a lower back injury that causes numbness and tingling in one of your legs.

Other causes of numbness and tingling

As you sit for a while in a specific position, you may apply enough pressure on an area of your body to constrict blood flow. Then, when you try to stand, you feel numbness and tingling. There are quite a few other causes of these sensations, for instance, the following:

• carpal tunnel syndrome
• migraines or other headaches
• sciatica
• golfer’s elbow or tennis elbow
• myofascial adhesions
• tumors or scar tissue
• multiple sclerosis
• deficiency of vitamin B12
• liver or kidney disease
• calcium deficiency
• diabetes
• spondylosis
• lesions on the spinal disc
• thoracic outlet syndrome.

How chiropractic care can help

Before a chiropractor attempts to treat your numbness and tingling, they will always first diagnose the underlying cause of the sensations. If there is not yet a diagnosis, your chiropractor will have you undergo a thorough examination. This examination might include a range of motion tests, neurological tests, and orthopedic tests.

Once they diagnose the underlying condition, your chiropractor can formulate a complete treatment program. Treatments are designed to correct any misalignments, eliminate irritations, and restore appropriate nerve function to the affected area. All treatment plans get customized to the individual. But, in many cases,they will include some combination of the following approaches:

• deep tissue massage
• fractionating
• chiropractic adjustment
• application of ice
• spinal manipulation.

Case studies showing the effectiveness of chiropractic care

Chiropractic treatment for numbness and tingling has proven effective in many case studies. In one well-known case, a 24-year-old woman had the ‘needles and pins’ sensation in her right arm for more than two years. This feeling interfered with her daily activities, including her sleep. After undergoing one week of treatment with a chiropractor, her two-year bout with numbness and tingling was over.

In another case study, over 160 people received treatment for radiculopathy. Radiculopathy is a pinched nerve condition that causes impaired muscular control, weakness, and numbness in the affected body area. All these individuals underwent chiropractic care. Within several sessions, 85% of the test subjects had experienced significant relief from the numbness and tingling associated with their radiculopathy.