Anxiety Paresthesia: Symptoms, Causes And How To Manage It
Many people who live with anxiety report that in situations of stress or anxiety they experience a strange tingling sensation in their hands, similar to when an arm or leg falls asleep after resting on them for a long time. This sensation has a name, in the field of neurology it is known as paresthesia.
The term paresthesia is used to refer to an abnormal sensation, in the sense that it has no apparent physical cause, of tingling, stinging, chills, burning, numbness, general sensitivity or the senses.
Paraesthesia is normally the result of some type of sustained pressure on a nerve, however, sometimes it can be derived from some type of disorder that affects the central nervous system or associated with stress and anxiety. In this article we will talk about anxiety paresthesia its symptoms, its origin, and strategies to deal with this condition.
As we have seen, paresthesia refers to a burning or stinging sensation commonly felt in the extremities: hands, arms, legs or feet, but it can manifest itself in any part of the body.
Paraesthesia occurs without warning, is not usually accompanied by pain and people describe it as a tingling or numbness, sometimes it is accompanied by an itchy or stinging sensation on the skin. A rare paresthesia is formication, a sensation similar to that of insects crawling on the skin, without such bugs existing. Paraesthesia can be chronic or transient.
Most of us have experienced a type of paresthesia or paresthesias, but without knowing that it was called this way, usually derived from poor posture After sitting cross-legged for a while or after falling asleep on our arm, when we get up or wake up we cannot move the limb. When we say “my leg or arm has fallen asleep” what we mean is that we are experiencing paresthesia.
It is a sensation that we could describe as pricks that become more intense when trying to rest the arm, hand or leg on the ground or some surface, spreading throughout the entire extremity. After a while the intensity of the punctures becomes weaker and This is when a tingling or tingling sensation appears and the sensation of numbness begins to decrease until we feel that part of our body as usual again. Sometimes, before disappearing completely, the tingling and numbness is followed by a sensation of cold that runs through the extremity, until body temperature gradually recovers.
The cause of this type of paresthesia is the temporary restriction of nerve impulses in a specific area due to pressure or a lack of blood circulation And this disappears when the pressure disappears without any consequences.
There are shorter and more common paresthesias, similar to electric shocks, that can be produced by pinching the ulnar nerve near the elbow; This phenomenon is colloquially known as hit the “funny bone”
Other causes of paresthesias may be reactive hyperemia, which occurs when blood flow is restored after a period of ischemia; or a cold sore outside the mouth, which may be preceded by tingling due to the activity of the causative virus. There are a dozen underlying causes of this condition.
There is also chronic paresthesia, or Bernhardt’s paresthesia, which is usually a symptom of an underlying neurological disease where there is a problem with the functioning of neurons, or poor circulation.
Other causes of paresthesia are psychological conditions such as hyperventilation syndrome and panic attacks is also part of the symptoms of an anxiety disorder.
Symptoms
When paresthesia appears repeatedly over time and is accompanied by other symptoms such as difficulty breathing, palpitations, feeling of loss of control, dizziness… It will be part of the symptoms present in an anxiety disorder, where sensations such as depersonalization, derealization or fear of dying may also occur. In this case we will be facing paresthesia due to anxiety.
Like other paresthesias, anxiety paresthesia occurs mainly in the extremities. But it can occur in other areas of the body, it can extend to the torso and some people may notice numbness in the face and head area, this paresthesia would be known as facial paresthesia.
In the case of anxiety paresthesia, contrary to other types of paresthesia of physical origin, Symptoms appear on both sides of the body either with the same intensity or with different intensities.
What is anxiety paresthesia?
The paresthesia that comes from numbness in the extremities after poor posture does not usually scare us, since we are used to it and we know that it disappears. We also know a little about its causes and we simply understand that due to the pressure exerted, the body needs time to recover. .
However, When paresthesia appears within an anxiety disorder, it seems inexplicable to us, there is no pressure in any area. Added to the fact that we are in a time of fear and stress, this gives rise to a series of adverse explanations. We can relate paresthesia to another type of serious condition such as suffering from a stroke, or another type of neurological condition. Paraesthesia and our thoughts about it make the anxiety attack worse, increasing other sensations such as fear and distrust.
Causes
Symptoms of sensory origin, such as those of paresthesia, They can arise from depressive symptoms or occur within the manifestations of anxiety ; Therefore, its most common causes are anxiety disorder or, in some cases, panic attacks. Symptoms that affect the senses are a way to release tensions of emotional origin.
Anxiety paresthesia has been related to breathing; this mainly manifests itself in patients who also tend to have breathing difficulties during anxiety attacks, usually breathing faster and deeper than normal (hyperventilation).
Hyperventilation does not have a psychological origin, it is not caused by the catastrophic idea that we are suffocating and need more air to continue living. Without being aware of it, during the day we can increase our levels of alertness or tension in response to situations that we experience as normal but the body considers stressful Our body activates what is known as the survival system. One of the mechanisms of this system is to collect more oxygen than usual, which is why we breathe faster and more deeply. However, since there is no real threat and we do not run, the O2 is not consumed and a surplus is generated.
This increase in the amount of oxygen has two main consequences. First of all, an imbalance occurs between oxygen and carbon dioxide The body will try to maintain balance, to do so it will try to reduce the amount of air that enters and force the respiratory system to take in air more slowly, which causes the sensation of suffocation characteristic of anxiety. The imbalance between O2 and CO 2 circulating in the blood will cause a change in pH, this condition is known as alkalosis.
On the other hand, by believing that we are in a survival situation, our body concentrates the greatest amount of oxygen in the vital organs located in the center of the body
All this will cause less oxygen to reach the extremities. That is why we can feel the tingling and numbness characteristic of paresthesia.
How to combat anxiety paresthesia?
One of the first ways to reduce the symptoms associated with paresthesia, and its consequences that aggravate the crisis, is to understand the mechanism of hyperventilation that we have just explained.
To the use a paper bag to breathe We reduce the amount of air and oxygen that enters our lungs, and we help restore balance.
Performing physical exercise It also has a compensatory effect on the O2 and CO2 balance of our body, since by accelerating the heart rate and breathing, it increases oxygen consumption and helps eliminate carbon dioxide.
There are techniques for physiological control that are based on controlled exposure to situations that trigger anxiety. The person learns mechanisms to control the way their body reacts to different situations.
On the other hand, as we have said, paresthesia is part of a symptomatology within an anxiety disorder, or it can derive from other situations such as panic attacks. In this case it is treatment of underlying disorder which will help combat all its symptoms, including paresthesia.
With the improvement and treatment of the anxiety condition, the paresthesia should also subside or disappear completely. If this does not happen, it is advisable to consult with a doctor who can find out or rule out whether the paresthesia has a different cause, not derived from anxiety.
