Tingling or numbness in any part of the body indicates nerve injury. Nerve receptors receive and send signals to the brain and only due to this communication one can feel painful sensation. Trigeminal nerve is responsible for any kind of sensation on the eyes, teeth, jawbone and back of your head. It also controls certain functions like chewing and biting. Trigeminal is the largest of the cranial nerves and is composed of ophthalmic nerve, maxillary nerve and the mandibular nerve. The first and second nerves are sensory in nature and the maxillary nerve can do both motor and sensory function. The first three set of cranial nerves C1 to C3 is responsible for any sensitivity on the back of the head and superficial cervical nerves C1 to C4 holds the function of neck and ear region.
Numbness :
Any damage, injury or compression on the nerves can cause numbness. Any single nerve or group of nerves is injured/damaged causing numbness. Sometimes prolonged diabetes can damage the nerve fibers (the one belonging to feet) causing numbness. Irritation of trigeminal nerve or some portion of the brain that holds the sensitivity of the face and head region can cause temporary numbness.
Symptoms :
The symptoms of tingling feeling are different for every person. Some people describe it as “pins and needles” and some others report it as tingling feeling in the head. Different parts of the head are affected while having tingling feeling. In some cases front portion of the head and in others back of the head would be tingling or feeling numb. It feels like your head is tingling or your brain has strange feeling. Some people describe it as “electric signals” are running in the head and it feels like head is burning or prickling inside. Numbness can be felt gradually in many parts of the body like face, ears, nose, tongue, neck and mouth. For many people tingling feeling is preceded or followed by numbness. Numbness/tingling feeling can occur frequently or in rare occasions and it may range from mild to severe. This kind of feeling may vary between day and night and becomes worse when the person is under stress or anxiety.