Numbness of the upper extremities (arms) - causes and treatment

Lack of muscle strength is a condition in which maximum effort does not result in normal muscle contraction. Short-term muscle weakness can occur in completely healthy people. For example, it can develop after heavy physical exertion. However, constant muscle weakness for no apparent reason indicates health problems.

Pathological muscle weakness may indicate the development of various skeletal muscle diseases, such as Pompe disease. This is a rare genetic disease that can appear at any age, including adults. Its first sign is damage to the skeletal muscles, which in the initial stages can manifest itself as muscle weakness and difficulty performing habitual movements1.

Pompe disease often makes itself felt by difficulties in getting up from squatting, holding the lower back when bending forward, difficulties in climbing stairs, squats, and getting up from a chair. Gradually, due to muscle weakness, the patient’s gait changes - it becomes “duck-like”. It is noteworthy that muscle weakness of the arms and legs with Pompe disease gradually increases, and more and more muscle groups are affected. Due to weakness of the diaphragm muscles, breathing problems may occur - shortness of breath even with minor physical exertion1.

In such cases, it is important to consult a doctor as early as possible in order to diagnose the disease in time and begin treatment. Along with Pompe disease, myasthenia gravis can develop in a number of other diseases. Let's look at the causes of muscle weakness in more detail.

Numbness of the upper extremities. Causes

There are many reasons for the development of paresthesia in one or both hands. The main ones are listed in the table.

Table 1. Causes of hand numbness

Take care of your hands. Carpal tunnel syndrome

Numbness in the neck, pain in the shoulders, tingling in the legs and pain in the lower back are noted by people who spend most of their work and free time at the computer. They may also encounter another serious problem - carpal tunnel syndrome , which develops due to pinching, swelling or pinching of the median nerve in the carpal tunnel, which controls the sensitivity of the palm, thumb, index and middle fingers.

Carpal tunnel syndrome is an occupational disease of people whose work occurs mainly at a computer keyboard. As a result of a large number of monotonous movements or an awkward position of the hands while working with the keyboard and mouse, the wrist is under constant tension due to the constant static load on the same muscles. This causes the tendons that run near the median nerve to swell or the nerve itself to swell.

This is a very common disease, especially among women: about 10% of all representatives of the fairer sex living on our planet experience it during their lifetime. Men get this disease less often. Carpal tunnel syndrome can occur at any age, but most often during the period of hormonal changes in the body, after 40-45 years.

At the very beginning of the disease, most patients complain of numbness in the fingers in the morning, which goes away by noon. A little later, night numbness in all fingers except the little finger is added, as well as pain, tingling or burning in these fingers. Over time, “daytime complaints” are added to the night and morning symptoms:

• severe numbness and pain in the fingers if you hold your hands up for a long time.
• “weakness” and “clumsiness” of the hand: it becomes more difficult for a sick person to hold small objects in his fingers, for example, a needle, pin, ballpoint pen, etc.
• Items often fall out of your hands.
• Subsequently, with severe damage to the median nerve, in addition to numbness, tingling, burning and pain, a noticeable decrease in the sensitivity of the fingers is added, up to a complete loss of sensation from a light touch, a pin prick, etc.

If left untreated, carpal tunnel syndrome can lead to complete, irreversible damage to the median nerve and severe impairment of hand function. Sometimes the pain is so intense that it prevents a person from working. If you have the above listed manifestations, we advise you to consult a neurologist.

To prevent the development of carpal tunnel syndrome, it is necessary to bring your workplace into compliance with the rules of ergonomics and interrupt work more often to perform simple hand exercises.

Basic rules for working on a computer

• The chair or armchair must have armrests.
• When working with the keyboard, the bend angle of the arm at the elbow should be straight.
• When working with a mouse, the hand should be straight and lie on the table as far from the edge as possible.

Exercises for hands when working at a computer

1. Raise your hands up, forcefully clench your fingers into a fist, and then unclench them.
2. Relax your hands and shake them in the air, gradually raising them to the sides and up.
3. Place your palms together in front of your chest and press on the ends of your fingers, tilt your hands to the left and right.
4. Place your palms together, and then alternately move your fingers back until failure on a count of 1-4.
5. Now bring your hands together and, leaning on the ends of your fingers, move the bases of your hands to the sides without moving the ends of your fingers.
6. Stretch your arms forward and rotate your hands sideways and inward.
7. Make your arms half-bent, then forcefully clench and unclench your fingers.
8. Press your elbows to your sides, point your palms forward, and then gradually squeeze and unclench your phalanges.
9. Now interlace your fingers and make a few squeezing movements.
10. Alternately stretch your relaxed fingers from tip to base: first on your right hand, then on your left hand and vice versa, ending with circular rotational movements.
11. Now press your elbows to your sides again, clench your fingers into a fist and make rotational movements with your hands alternately in different directions.
12. Relax your hands and shake them in the air, moving up and down.

All exercises should be repeated several times.

Tunnel syndrome can significantly complicate your life, worsen your health, reduce your performance, and force you to spend time and considerable financial resources on treatment. It is easier to prevent than to treat. Follow the suggested recommendations and be healthy!

When to Seek Medical Help

Consultation with a doctor is necessary if symptoms:

• appear regularly;
• develop in the absence of visible provoking factors;
• gradually intensify;
• accompanied by pain in the arm, neck, and behind the sternum.

In some cases, numbness of the limbs (hands) has physiological causes and does not require treatment. This applies to paresthesia, which can occur when staying in an uncomfortable position for a long time, for example, after sleeping with your arms thrown back behind your head, after wearing a tight bracelet or watch strap. The numbness goes away on its own 10–15 minutes after normal blood circulation is restored: the hands are returned to a comfortable position, or the bracelet or watch is removed.

Causes of muscle weakness

The most likely causes of muscle weakness include:

• Chronic fatigue syndrome is a pathological condition in which fatigue does not go away after proper rest2;
• muscular dystrophies are a group of rare hereditary diseases in which degenerative processes occur in the muscles of the legs, arms, back, etc. One of the first symptoms of muscular dystrophies is progressive, ever-increasing weakness of various muscle groups;
• myasthenia gravis (myasthenia gravis) is an autoimmune disease in which the body produces special antibodies, which disrupts neuromuscular transmission3;
• peripheral neuropathy - damage to the peripheral nerves, usually due to a chronic disease such as diabetes;
• inflammatory myopathy is a rheumatic disease that affects skeletal muscles4;
• diseases of the thyroid gland - neuromuscular complications develop both with a decrease in thyroid function (hypothyroidism) and with an increase (thyrotoxicosis)5;
• polio is an acute infectious disease that affects the nervous system;
• blood calcium level is too high;
• long bed rest and some others.

The possibility of muscle weakness in emergency conditions should also be taken into account: sudden muscle weakness may be a sign of an acute cerebrovascular accident - stroke.

What causes the pathological condition?

Many factors provoke the phenomenon. They can be divided into dangerous and non-hazardous, for which there is no need for therapy. Mandatory treatment is required when numbness and muscle weakness of the limbs are caused by the following reasons:

• diabetes;
• severe disturbances in the functioning of the cardiovascular system;
• anemia;
• intervertebral hernia;
• sciatica;
• hormonal changes in the body;
• pathologies of the thyroid gland;
• chronic stress;
• chronic fatigue;
• cervical radiculitis;
• cervical spondylosis;
• multiple sclerosis;
• neuralgia;
• severe poisoning with chemical compounds;
• oncological diseases;
• frostbite of the extremities;
• necrotizing vasculitis;
• cervical osteochondrosis;
• heart attack;
• consequences of stroke;
• muscle protein deficiency;
• Raynaud's disease;
• lack of vitamin B12;
• tunnel syndromes,
• migraines – numbness and weakness occur during a headache attack;
• tumor diseases of the brain.

Causes of numbness and weakness of the limbs that are not dangerous and do not require treatment, which go away on their own in a short time, include:

• keeping a limb in one position for a long time causes a temporary circulatory disorder;
• staying in tight clothes for a long time;
• prolonged very strong physical activity;
• starting gymnastics classes - in this case, due to micro-strains of muscles and ligaments, in addition to numbness and weakness, pain is also added, which persists for 2-4 days;
• hypothermia (not to be confused with frostbite).

If the patient cannot accurately determine how dangerous the factors that led to the development of the pathological condition are, he should definitely consult a doctor. Depending on the cause of the problem, it can be treated by a neurologist, orthopedist, surgeon, neurologist, endocrinologist or therapist.

Little-Known Causes of Muscle Weakness

In some cases, limb weakness may occur due to a number of little-known causes.

For example, fatigue in muscle tissue can be caused by certain infections, such as glandular fever (Epstein-Barr virus), influenza (influenza A and B). During these diseases, patients feel that they need enormous effort for muscle activity.

Another uncommon cause may be fibromyalgia disease (an extra-articular disease of unknown etiology). People who have this pathology get tired very quickly. Fibromyalgia can also be caused by the Epstein-Barr virus.

In addition, a lack of thyroid hormone leads to muscle weakness. This condition is called hypothyroidism and can cause muscle degeneration and wasting. Hypothyroidism is a fairly common health condition, but it is usually treated early, before long-term muscle problems occur.

Muscle fatigue can also occur due to electrolyte imbalances and lack of fluid in the body (dehydration). The latter happens if a person drinks little and when he feels thirsty for drinking he does not quench it. All this can lead to very serious consequences, so keep an eye on your drinking balance.

How to treat muscle weakness?

The course of treatment is prescribed after diagnosis. Therapy depends on what disease has been identified. It can be based on medications, physiotherapeutic methods, surgical treatment methods, and can also be a combination of several techniques.

References

1. Nikitin S. S. et al. Clinical recommendations for the provision of medical care to patients with Pompe disease // Neuromuscular diseases - 2021. - T. 6. - No. 1.
2. Vorobyova O. V. Chronic fatigue syndrome (from symptom to diagnosis) // Difficult Patient - 2010. - T. 8. - No. 10.
3. Agafonov B.V., Kotov S.V., Sidorova O.P. Myasthenia and congenital myasthenic syndromes - 2013.
4. Antelava O. A. et al. Features of the onset and course of antisynthetase syndrome as the most severe subtype of polymyositis/dermatomyositis // RMZh - 2009. - T. 17. - No. 21. - P. 1443-1447.
5. Muravyova G. B., Devlikamova F. I. Neuromuscular complications in diseases of the thyroid gland // Practical Medicine - 2013. - No. 1. P. 66.
6. Rivier F. et al. Congenital muscular dystrophies: classification and diagnosis // Neuromuscular diseases – 2014. – No. 1. – P. 7-18.
7. Belozerov Yu. M. et al. Progressive muscular dystrophy of Emery-Dreyfuss //Almanac of Clinical Medicine – 2001. – No. 4. – P.66-71.

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