What causes tingling, numbness and weakness?
Tingling numbness and weakness are symptoms of nerve injury and/or dysfunction. These symptoms most commonly occur due to nerve compression in the spine. Compression of one nerve or multiple nerves can occur. When the symptoms follow the distribution of the sciatic nerve, it is called sciatica (see section on sciatica).
Symptoms of nerve compression:
- Pain, tingling, burning or numbness of the arms
- Pain, tingling, burning or numbness of the legs
- Tingling or numbness of the hands or feet
- Weakness of the arms/legs/hands or feet
- Unsteady walking
- “Clumsiness” of the hands (eg. unable to use chopsticks)
- Numbness of the anus region (may be an emergency)
- Inability to pass or control urine (may be an emergency)
Nerve symptoms may indicate injury to the nerve and may need to be investigated. Once the diagnosis is made, appropriate treatment needs to be instituted.
Types of treatments:
- Physiotherapy
- Brace
- Anti-inflammatory medication
- Injections
- Keyhole, minimally-invasive decompression surgery
- Keyhole, minimally-invasive decompression surgery and fusion
- Artificial disc replacement
- Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF)
