Paresthesia is the condition which causes burning sensation in the legs, arms and hands. This would be sudden feeling and is usually painless. Some people feel it as sudden numbness or tingling sensation in extremities. It is also described as “pins and needles” sensation by many people and is temporary feeling.
Many of you would have had such feeling after waking up with keeping the arm below the head or getting up after sitting for long time. Paresthesia is caused due to the nerve pressure and the condition improves once the pressure gets relieved.
If parasthesia becomes chronic then it can be indicative of neurological problem or nerve damage. The part that is affected (legs, arms or hands) is said to have fallen asleep for certain time causing numbness.
Symptoms :
Paresthesia is felt in the form of pricking or tingling sensation in the legs or arms and hands. It will not cause any pain but it causes sudden numbness in the affected area. Nerves in that area become suddenly lifeless and hence there will not be any sensation felt in that region.
Some people with chronic paresthesia will have additional symptoms of pain and itching along with numbness. This can happen in diabetic patients where due to diabetic neuropathy the underlying nerve loses sensation temporarily. Depending on the severity of nerve damage, the symptoms may vary. Sometimes, the nerves become very weak that it will not send or carry any messages from the brain. If the sensory neurons are damaged the person may not think properly and gets confused.