Leg numbness - possible causes and treatments for numb legs

Leg numbness, or tingling, is a feeling that often occurs in people with a sedentary lifestyle. It usually goes away when you change your body position, for example, when you stand up to stretch your legs. Unfortunately, leg numbness is very often neglected.

Meanwhile, there are quite a lot of reasons for its occurrence and sometimes its appearance is a symptom of a disease. That is why it is worth seeing a doctor with this problem, especially if other proven methods fail.

It is also good to know effective methods, sometimes home ones, which will help us cope with this problem and the feeling accompanying it. However, in order to know how to fight the feeling of numbness in legs, it is necessary to know the cause of its occurrence.

Numbness in the legs - causes of occurrence

The feeling of numbness in legs results from various disorders connected with conduction of nerves in legs. It is worth knowing that sometimes the numbness is temporary, but it can also be a chronic problem, which may be accompanied by other symptoms, such as swelling or pain in the extremities.

There are quite a few reasons for the appearance of this problem. One of the main ones is staying in the same position for a long time. Therefore, people who have a sedentary work mode are most exposed to the occurrence of a feeling of numbness in legs. Sitting for a long time in the same position causes pressure on the nerves located in the lower limbs, which leads to nerve conduction disorders.

Sometimes these disorders may also be connected with nerve damage itself, which may occur for example as a result of lower limb trauma or damage as a result of body exposure to strong thermal stimuli such as frostbite.

In turn, compression of a lower limb nerve may also occur when a tumour or haematoma appears in the area of the nerve and then begins to grow.

A poor diet, especially if it is low in B vitamins or if you are deficient in magnesium and calcium, can also cause numbness in the legs. We should not forget about the fact that numb legs are sometimes one of the symptoms of diseases, such as atherosclerosis or multiple sclerosis.

Limb numbness - when is it related to a disease?

As we have already mentioned, numbness in the legs is often just a sign of the poor lifestyle we lead. However, it is important to bear in mind that the feeling of numbness in the legs can be a symptom of a disease, often a serious one.

The feeling of numbness in the legs often occurs when there is degeneration of the spine. Nerves are pressed, especially if there is degeneration in the lumbar or sacral region. The appearance of numbness in the legs is also closely related to osteoarthritis.

In addition, this feeling is also very common with diabetic neuropathy, i.e. complications associated with diabetes. In the case of this disease, there can even be a complete loss of feeling in the lower limbs, and this is due to complete damage to the nerves in them.

Also diseases related to the circulatory system, such as peripheral vascular disease or systemic vasculitis, are manifested by a transient or chronic feeling of numbness in the lower limbs.

We should also not forget about possible tumours that may compress the nerves, for example in the case of cancer. If this is the case, the nerves in the limbs will not function properly either, which will lead to the feeling of numbness.

How to deal with the problem of leg numbness?

If you often feel numbness in your legs, you should see a doctor and tell him about the problem. It may turn out that the reason for this condition is a bad diet or lack of physical activity.

However, it is good if we also do a number of tests to be able to exclude one of the diseases, the symptom of which is the feeling of numbness in the lower limbs. For this purpose, it is worth to visit also the neurologist.

It should be remembered that tingling or numbness of legs often has a neurological basis and appears in the case of epilepsy or multiple sclerosis. Sometimes neurosis and neuropathy are also responsible for this condition.

Neuropathy is an inflammation of the peripheral nerves, which is responsible for the appearance of disorders related to the conduction of sensory and motor information, precisely along the nerve fibres.

In other words, neuropathy is nerve damage that can occur as a result of taking certain medications or struggling with alcoholism.

However, if the tests exclude any of the diseases mentioned above, it is worth looking at our diet. With this type of problem, it is worth introducing cereal products, milk, eggs and cold cuts into the diet. Avoid strong tea, coffee and alcohol.

Do not forget about physical activity. Frequent changes of the position in which we work and performing a few uncomplicated exercises should help to wash away the problem of leg numbness.