both hands and feet go numb

Z

Zack M

New member
no, it's not carpal tunnel. no, it's not my b-12 and D levels because that's been taken care of. This has been going on for 6 months and now I get the needle feeling in my finger and base of fingers. Just using my computer mouse will make the hand go numb. When my arms and legs are bent even in the slighest way, feet and hands go numb. I assume I have a pinched nerve in my back or neck? making chiropractor appt. tomorrow.
also my side of my back..where my waist is can't be touched---too tender and feels pinched.
anyone have a clue as to whats causing this?:confused:
 
the bigger 'key" here is, for your primarys 'need' purposes is that this simply IS a very needed type of test(contrasted MRI or the 'entire" CNS, brain/spinal cord) in order to simply find the base of the main issue here, what IS creating a very solid definite type of pronounced symptom in your body at this point? it simply IS NEEDED. quite honestly, if i had what you have going on, i KNOW without a doubt in my mind, my primary would in a freaking heartbeat simply 'do' whatever was needed to find out what is causing such a really profound symptom to even be there at all let alone actually IN 4 seperate extremities too? that just IS what our primarys are supposed to do for us. they ARE the overall coordinators of our care and are the ones who should be sending us to other specialists or for certain types of testing when they simply cannot tell us what is wrong, or causing a particular symptom in us. thats their job they took on when they took us on as their patients.

if your primary, when you just very simply ask her "what is causing this in me", cannot actually give you that ONE solid answer(not guesses, answers), tell her well then send me for the right tests that CAN tell me. as your primary care doc she simply owes you that answer or the best types of testing in order to even begin to try and give you that answer. she has no freaking clue til that inner you gets a good looksee down to that cord and brain level since sooo many possible things could actually create what you are experiencing at all?

this is just WAYYY more than 'a' pinched nerve issue, not when you actually have this very same symptom in 4 seperate extremities, the innervation(just A nerve alone) just could not possibly match with the wide spread symptom pattern you are displaying right now? ya know what i mean? the only real true possible connections actually lie within that spinal cord level or the brain level, with only one realistic 'other" type possible, some "type' of deep inner bloodflow issue that can impact out to the periphery. like i mentioned before? two very basic underlying things could be pretty much the "onlys" when it comes to even having any level of sensory loss or 'numbness? and they both would in certain ways always breakdown and eventually be tracked back to one of or possibly even both with certain conditions, innervation loss/impairment or bloodflow impairment.

the best test to check the entire CNS and also would check the actual bloodflow too when using contrast as far as seeing whether or not there just IS actual flow upon a scan pic, a contrated MRI. and to check actual bloodflow thru all extremities would only take a doppler ultrasound being done on all four extremities. that just should be done to simply see how well the vessls are doing their jobs there,esp with regards to overall venous return? but as you just already KNOW here and your primary does too tho she may not actually 'know' what to do, something just is not 'right" here at all at the peripheral ends of all extremities which if left unDxed in you, depending upon just what is creating that loss of sensory could lead to other bigger issues down the road.

i would give her one more chance here by simply asking her to tell you whats wrong, if she cannot which i know she can't then tell her to PLEASE send me for the appropriate types of testing to FIND OUT for me. if she wont, then be prepared to fire her and simply move onto a much more caring type of primary who would actually WANT to help their patients, which just IS their job afterall. and i would most definitely let her know that too. if you are not going to try and find out whats wrong,i guess i will have to actually find a primary who WANTS to care for their patients and actually send them for NEEDED tests. see what she does.

i have been thru a medical nightmareathon here since 99 with first my son, when he suddenly went into liver failure and needed transplant(12 years old), alot of other just totally off the wall insane types of other medical issues with him, then MY crap started which was another round of just insane Dxs or "incidental findings" docs, hospitals and ongoing testing. the one HUGE thing i found out during all of this is some docs are just plain stupid and make you wonder just how in gods name they actually even got their MDs. some are too held back in how they choose to even look at what needs to be done with certain types of testing despite certain symptoms just screaming at them 'test me'?? helloo? and that as a patient you just DO have many many rights to actually demand certain things from your own healthcare providers anytime you just 'feel" they are not paying enough attention to your conditions as a whole or the oh sooo needed testing to even find a real reason or Dx of what is creating profound symptoms.

you just seriously do have very profound sensory losses stemming from somewhere. and it IS up to anyone doc to just see the symptoms and send for the appropriate types of testing to fully define it or Dx a problem somewhere. period. and that just IS the additude you need to approach this to with any treating doc you may have(this IS your right as anyones patient). baseline testing is just badly needed here just to even find out the whys in all this. if she wont do this part of her actual job for you, tell her sorry but i am moving onto someone who actually gives a damn and do it. it may be the best thing you could ever have done for yourself. i wish you luck with this and do hope she gets her crap togehter and does the 'common sense thing here? this is just soo freaking crazy i cannot even begin to tell you. not with what you are displaying and no testing yet? FB
 
are you actually saying that ANY chiro adjustments were even done on you WITHOUT even one single x ray being done FIRST??? just what WAS that chiro using to 'go by' as far as even seeing what could easily be possible herniations or ANYTHING at all within the discs themselves or the vertebrae too(at least those things are easily seen upon plain x ray)? that just really blows my mind, seriously. that was in no way shape or form the 'appropriate' thing for ANY chiro to even 'do'(any adjustments) without a simple x ray at the very least here first? DEFINITELY do NOT go back there.

considering how these symptoms came on and the fact that they worsened while under that chiros care, that alone "should' have at least made him uh, 'curious"?? to WANT to get a look at the spine at least? unfortunetly now there really is no way to truely know how much real 'change' when you do get that badly needed MRI, how much was already there and what HE could have even created for you or seriously exascerbated in there depending, ya know what i mean? any x ray that he should have just done BEFORE doing anything would have just been more of a true 'baseline' type of test showing the spinal column in the 'presentation' state, thats all. i seriously feel you are pretty lucky here considering everything, really. sorry i got off track there, but man that just shocked me totally.

well i am glad you will be seeing your doc soon and can now hopefully get her attention with the new added symptoms here too? you just NEED that whole CNS scanned with a contrasted MRI, but mostly in light of the newer symptoms showing in your fingers? this is what is resembling more closely to radiculopathy? this is a bunch of different types of 'symptoms'(tingling numbness electrical 'jolts pins/needles and pain?) that usually will show themselves like yours now are when something just IS being possibly impacted up in your c spine level? everything that simply totally innervates our arms down thru our hands just sits all within whats called the brachial plexus up in that lower c spine down to only the first T spine segment.

the possibles here could include alot of different types of possible spinal issues that can just happen anywhere within the spinal and the cord level too. this all is just screaming to be MRIed right now, seriously. if your doc cannot actually see the absolute need here after you speak with her at that appt, esp on light of the newer symptoms(showing progression here) i would seriously get up and walk out of her office and tell her you are going to be moving onto a real primary who actually gives a dam about their patients health? thats her JOB that YOU hired her for. i am hoping she WILL finally get it here and do this one full CNS contrasted MRI, only becasue of the nature of the way this originally presented that brain should also be included too? if you cannot actually get her to include that brain as well, at LEAST get the c spine all the way down the full spinal column. your widesperad types of symptoms seriously DO need to see that whole entire spinal. it just makes good common sense to simply get it all in one shot. this way you just know every area was included and also checked for any possible abnormalities of any kind. some we can even be born with but they wont show themselves til it either simply turns up as an incidental finding upon another scan at some point, or it simply starts to present itself with symptoms that would then require the needed MRI be done? this is how my glob of blood vessels i was simply born with showed up in my MRI for what we already knew just was a herniated disc in my c spine somewhere. i had radiculopathic symptoms in my R hand and arm with alot of pain in my R neck too. the glob called a cavernous hemangioma just happened to show up right at my c 8 nerve level directly under where i had herniated my c 6-7, but smack in the middle of my spinal cord. didn't have a freaking clue it was even IN my spinal cord and been there since birth til that one MRI simply showed it completely(i was around age 40). it itself had not showed any symptoms at all then, but luckily it was right where it would not have been missed where they had to scan that c spine. but it had shown it had bled at some point.

honestly, no one really truely just knows what they may have going on inside their own bodies til it either starts showing symptoms or it turns up during a scan for something else? this really IS the best reason to get your whole CNS or at the very least for now, c spine all the way down to s. but i would seriously push for the brain down thru that sacrum level. and with a contrasting agent most definitely too. i really DO wish you luck with this and hope your primary will finally start acting like one? please DO keep me posted hon. FB

sorry, just went back and reread your other post again? make sure you actually get that much MORE needed MRI before she sends you for that EMG? you really do need both tests here actually, but i really do think that MRI should just be the main priority first, thats all. once you get that MRI it will better show possible areas of innervation problems to better guide the tech who will be doing the ordered EMG/NCV test. the MRI can just actually show possible areas of innervation compromise that you may not even be aware ARE actually possibly compromised? thats why the MRI should just be done before that EMG is. just my own opinion there hon.
 
honestly? i would NOT actually seek out ANY types of chiro help here until you simply have ruled out or in a few things first. since you are having actual numbess in the upper and the lower extermities, the 'base" of this type of thing in most cases would be the head/neck/c spine level? even just the neck/c spine itself alone IS a very highly innervated and a highly vascular area too that if you do not yet have a clue as to just what is creating this for you, it could make things alot worse for you in the long run if someone just starts 'adjusting" things that they also cannot actually even see.

i would seriously speak with your primary at this point, and considering your wide range symptom, just ask him or her to actually send you for a FULL contrasted spinal MRI before actually 'doing' anything else here. if you simply do not actually know what you have going on within that spinal level down to the cord, you really have no real clue as to what the "trigger/generator of your numbness actually is yet(THATS what really NEEDS to be found out first). and doing adjustments from any chiro, which ARE basically 'blind' meaning he cannot actually even "see' just what moved or really in what way in there? and not knowing what you just could have, well it just would not be the safest possible thing for you right now, ya know?

this just does not really sound anything like 'A" pinched nerve, just becasue of the upper and lower both being involved here? any pinched nerve would show itself much more with a pain response at some area of affectation you have there.

when it comes to actual numbness in any given area, it can generally in a more underlying way be tracked back to two particular things. either nerve flow impairment, in your case,would just have to be wayy up at c spine level, OR an actual bloodflow impairment of some kind. tho there can be many many possible reasons for that to occur in the human body, it really does come down to those two very basic underlying things when numbness is a symptom. but taking a good solid look at your spinal cord with that MRI can also reveal certain things that just can impact sensory to certain degrees too. i personally went thru THAT one myself.

this to me almost sounds like some form of neuropathy? are you a diabetic or have any close relatives who are? just what it sounds like since this is the general way neuropathy begins, at the ends of the extremities then works its way up the limb kinda thing? or some possible level of demyelinating condition? but i most certainly would just seek out your primary right now for that contrasted(shows alot more than without it, esp bloodflow areas) full spinal MRI just to get the testing and ruling out or in ball rolling here soon. they could also include the brain as well just to try and rule out the more obivous findings that can sometimes show if there just is some level of problem within your brain that could also casue this type of numbness. right now you unfortunetly are just 'in' the diagnosistic mode which will involve certain types of testing to try and determine where this is actually stamming from. another type of test that would actually show just how real much nerve flow velocity is running thru esp those nerves at the periphery thru the CNS processing level and to muslces too would be what is called an EMG/NCV. not the most comfy type of test but let me tell you,it is the BEST type of test when trying to determine nerve flow thru any actual nerve.

but no matter what, for YOUR own real safety here, please stay the heck away from any chiro til you at least KNOW what it is you are actually dealing with and been told by at the very least ,a good knowledgable neuro that it IS simply okay for YOU to go that route. they also just do need that good look at your spinal cord in order to rule out certain anomalies like i had that just showed up in my very first ever MRI? we can be born with some pretty insane things on out bodys just about anywhere, trust me. we just do not know they are even there til they turn up like mine did while getting a c spine MRI scan for a herniated disc and listed as an 'incidental finding'? or they start to actually 'present' themselves with some types of real symptoms too. you just NEED to start some real testing at this point to find out that underlying cause. this just is far from normal as you already know. it needs defining/Dxing before anything else is done or tried. i would just make an appt with your primary and go from there. but DO defintiely tell that doc you WANT to start with an MRI with contrast from the top on down, or the entire central nervous system which is your brain and spinal cord all in one actual interconnected type "organ". these two things are what govern all body system function. you have a rather "systemic" type symptom so it should include the whole CNS in any real MRIs done too.

i hope all goes well for you and they can easily pinpoint the base of the real issue here for you soon. please do let me know what you find out hon, FB
 
ok you have me worried. I have half of people telling me to go to the chiropractor and the other half telling me to see my doctor. I guess I can see my doctor first and hope she will test me. I didnt think this would be anything serious but more and more people are telling me I need to get this checked ASAP.
thank you for your input.
 
wow. I was just about to call the chiro but read your message first. I don't know what to do at this point. I like my primary doctor but she doesnt schedule tests unless SHE feels it's necessary. My chiro that I see every 6 months would schedule one if he felt something else was going on. I trust him more than my primary at this point. I'm just not sure what the next step is. I have a follow up with my primary in july but not sure I want to wait that long.
 
let me ask you a few questions. have you already BEEN getting adjustments from this chiro, which i kind of get the impression you have? if so, for how long and what were the EXACT symptoms you were having that sent you there to begin with? did you ALREADY have the sensory issues like they are now, or was anything different, or become worse? what did that chiro actually tell you was wrong and creating this, of course if you have been seeing him already? was there even an x ray taken of the full spinal? this would ONLY give the very basics of how the parts of the discs that actually show would look and the vertebrae but nothing 'inner" if you did have one.

the thing you have to consider here seriously is the 'unknowns" right now. you nor that chiro simply 'knows' at all exactly what even created that sensory loss? that one thing could simply BE a real issue if you actually had further adjustments with too many real unknowns(something just IS impacting something here in order for this to even just 'be' this way at all). if you look at this in just a very logical and common sense way, what 'could' happen if you chose to go this route, vs looking at what could happen if you did not allow anyone to simply touch that spinal UNTIL at the very least here, you just KNOW much much more that would require that MRI at the very least to actually find out?

if you have been getting ongoing adjustments and this chiro really has no real clue as to what just is there or creating this, what in the heck has he been 'treating/adjusting in you? thats actually kinda scarey to me. you do have every right to choose what yopu feel is beast for your health here, but honestly, simply NOT actually even knowing what is creating this level of a sensory loss in your body, getting ANY potential adjustments(even if you have already been getting them. you do not actually know if things could have been MORE impacted BY those either right now?) is just plain risky right now, vs waiting, thats all i was trying to really point out? whats the hurry, ya know? get that 'look inside to simply 'see' if what is creating this just could be something that if adjusted wrongly could actually create a disc fragment or bone spur or any other number of possible spinal issues to actually embed themselves into structures like your very delicate spinal cord here.

you just have to take some time FIRST to actually see into the areas of possible impact, THEN make that decision based upon actually KNOWING what it is your dealing with here and even more importantly for you, whether or not an actual neuro would even give chiro an okay. that would depend heavily upon just what they actually find in the spinal.

i just would very much push like heck to get the brain and that full spinal cord MRIed with contrast. this IS most definitely needed right now for many reasons. this just needs to get rolling here in order for YOU to find out what is going on, and obtain appropriate forms of treatment if needed too. nothing can really 'help' anyone if no one actually knows what the underlying problem is, ya know? but ALWAYS try and minimize that potential for further harm with ANY types of potential treatments. esp when they are a blind form of actual 'movement' within a very highly innervated and reactive area like the CNS/cord actually is. you simply need to know more than you do right now before even attempting that route again or ever. just make an appt with your primary for the MRI referral and go from there. you NEED that 'look' inside before anything else can seriously be 'done' here. simply even HAVING sensory loss in 4 seperate extremities just IS a pretty big deal, and your doc should think so too, or else, wel, l you know what to do there. you deserve and need some answers, its that simple. FB
 
by the way, diabetes runs very high in my family. my mom lost both legs to it but I get tested for it every year and I'm fine. she lost both legs due to lack of circulation.
 
Thank you for all the information. I have been to 2 different chiropractors in my time and neither one has ever even mentioned me having an x-ray done. they just went to work adjusting me.
 
well, saw the doctor and she put me on muscles relaxers until Friday for my major pulled muscles in my neck and back. If I am still getting numb feet and hands then she will test me for MS or RA.
This morning both my lower legs and feet got numb while I was on the toilet not even a minute.
I will wait until Thursday then call her and tell her the numbness is still here. *sigh.
 
I was seeing my chiro every 6 months for pulled muscles in my lower back and the most recent one back in Jan. or even dec. was for pulled muscles in my neck and shoulders. I did mention that my hands and feet were starting to numb..at that time it was more the hands. He was trying to figure it out with me but I was heading to my doctor anyway and she said my b-12 and D were low so I got on vitamins and she thought it might be carpal tunnel. As for my feet she thought since I have mortons nueroma in one foot that it was causing BOTH to go numb?? sounds odd to me. I've had mortons nueroma before and that never happened.
Update now is I see her On Friday to "talk" about my sysmptoms getting worse. I have experienced needle like feeling in my right fore finger and at the base of my 2 middle fingers in the left hand. It happened only once so far. I do notice my fingers become stiff and achy once a day for like a 1/2 hr.
As for my feet I have developed 2 brown spots on my left foot. One on the top about an inch long and now above my ankle. They are not bruises. I have no idea what they are or how they got there.
I will show my doctor and stress I want a test. She had mentioned an EMG before? I have never had an x-ray of my spine.
 
so no mention of even doing that very badly needed MRI on you? i would seriously tell her you really want to know just what is going on in you by actually SEEING it upon an MRI right now. this really should have been done long ago, but most certainly NOW? just only considering your ongoing and worsening symptoms? i WOULD definitely keep pushing this until she finally does what simply IS needed if only to find that something or clear it, but either way its needed more than any othwer types of possible testing right now, and with contrast too. this is just a very basic form of 'baseline' testing,ya know? whenever you just have THAT severe of neck/upper back pain along with sensory issues an MRI is kind of a no brainer here? this could all simply be generated by an issue within that c spine. i seriously doubt that this could be the result of simple 'pulled" muscles. not when you also have what other symptoms you just have here too? i would seriously consider changing docs here if she does not even care about looking at your spinal with what you have goin on? like i said, your symptoms? no brainer. good luck with this and do keep me posted too. just push for that one full brain thru full spinal MRI right now. this would also look at the brain for signs of MS as well. FB
 
I personally would never go to a chiropractor until I was cleared medically first. If both hands and feet go numb I would be consulting with a spine clinic first to have all the testing to find out if it is nerves being pinched off or that I didn't have like a tumor or something medically that would be harmed by having any kind of physical therapy or straightening. There are many tests that should be conducted first to discover if any major problems. Good luck
 
I wanted to add..my husband was touching my neck and shoulders to see where my tender spots are for pulled muscles and when he touched the side of my back-towards my waist..he hardly touched me and I jumped! It felt very pinched and very painful! The left side is worse than the right. I will mention this to the doctor as well.
 
lich66 I so agree with FB, you cannot ignore this - nor can your doctor. Honestly, some doctors are so busy, all they manage to do is put bandaids on patients issues, one right after the other. You need to see a specialist pronto. Ask for that referral, and ask for the MRI -, there are somethings your apparent paresthesis (numbness) you just cannot ignore. If you have insurance, make it work for you and get the needed testing. You will then know what your plan of action is, instead of guessing what the possibilities are.
Good luck!:wave:
Rose
 
update: Doctor did blood work for lupus, RA came out fine. I had an EMG done and doctor says I'm fine. The muscle relaxers have helped and My feet have not gone numb and my right hand only goes numb once in a great while. I should have listened to my instincts and went to my chiropractor first. It was my neck and back muscles causing the numbness after all. Things have improved.
Thanks for your advice.
 
I'm glad you got relief from your chiropractor. It sounded like a pinched nerve to me, which is usually easily fixed by a chiropractic adjustment. I'm shocked at the number of people who are anti-chiropractor. I think a good chiropractor can fix almost anything.
 
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