Numbness is a loss of feeling or sensitivity in a part of your body. If you’ve noticed numbness in your fingers, there are a lot of possible causes.
Injured or pinched nerves can lead to numb fingers. So can blood flow issues or a range of other medical conditions.
The feeling can be harmless and go away on its own. But if it comes back, it’s something you should talk about with your doctor. They can help you figure out what may be causing it.
Finger Numbness and Diabetes
Peripheral neuropathy
If you have diabetes, high blood sugar can, over time, damage your nerves, a condition called peripheral neuropathy.
Finger numbness or tingling is one of the symptoms. Other symptoms include:
- Tingling or numbness in your feet or legs
- Tingling or numbness in your arms
- Pain or cramps
- Muscle weakness
- Poor balance
- Slow reflexes
- Burning or pain
Once high blood sugar has damaged your nerves, there’s no treatment that can reverse that damage. But some prescription medicines can help people handle the symptoms. These include antidepressants, anticonvulsants, and skin creams. You should also keep your diabetes under control to prevent neuropathy from getting worse.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Numbness
Your wrist has a small space known as the carpal tunnel. Many of the nerves that control your fingers and hands pass through this tunnel.
If you spend a lot of time working on a computer or doing other activities that strain your wrists, you can irritate or cause swelling in the carpal tunnel. Arthritis also can cause swelling.
It can pinch off nerves and cause numbness in your fingers. It’s known as carpal tunnel syndrome. Other symptoms you may have are:
- Pain in your hands or fingers
- Tingling in your hands or fingers
- A weak grip
- Fumbling or clumsiness
- Dropping things
Make some changes to relieve pressure on your wrists. When you’re using a computer, smartphone, or other device, take breaks often to give your hands and arms a rest. Keep your wrists straight, not bent up, when using a mouse and keyboard. This can ease your carpal tunnel symptoms.
A doctor may also suggest wearing splints to keep your wrist in a position that won’t hurt your nerves. If arthritis causes the swelling in your carpal tunnel, steroid shots may help.
Compressed Nerves and Numbness
Apart from carpal tunnel syndrome, other health issues can pinch off the nerves in your arms or wrists. These conditions include:
- Nerve injuries
- Enlarged muscles
- Enlarged blood vessels
- Cysts
All of these can cause numbness in one or more of your fingers. You might also feel pain or weakness.
Treatment depends on the cause of your pinched nerve. It helps to take time away from activities that make your symptoms worse. In some cases, you may need surgery to repair the nerve.
Alcohol Use and Hand Numbness
Drinking heavy amounts of alcohol over a long time can lead to a type of nerve damage called alcoholic polyneuropathy. It can cause finger numbness. Other symptoms include:
- Tingling or numbness in your arms, legs, or feet
- A “pins and needles” sensation in your hands, arms, legs, or feet
- Pain in your arms or legs
- Falls or stumbling
- Muscle weakness, cramps, or spasms
- Trouble swallowing or eating
The main thing that will help is to quit drinking alcohol, which can stop the nerve damage from getting worse. Medical detox and rehab programs can help if you’re struggling with alcohol use. After that, other options to treat polyneuropathy symptoms include:
- Pain medication
- Physical therapy
- Splints or braces
- Nutrition supplements, including vitamins E, B1, folate, and vitamin B12
Fibromyalgia and Numbness
The main symptom of fibromyalgia is widespread pain that does not have a clear cause. But it can also cause numb fingers and other symptoms, such as:
- Fatigue
- Foggy thinking or problems focusing
- Headaches
- Depression
- Problems sleeping
Doctors think fibromyalgia may come from a problem with the way the brain handles pain signals. There’s no cure, but treatments can help you manage the symptoms. Medications can ease pain and help you sleep. Physical therapy, occupational therapy, and counseling can help you find ways to handle your symptoms in everyday life. It also helps to get regular exercise and find ways to lower stress.
Other Causes of Numb Fingers
Other medical issues also can lead to finger numbness, including:
Stroke
Hand numbness can be a symptom of a stroke, which is brain damage caused by a decreased blood supply to a region of your brain.
Brain or spinal cord injury
An emergency symptom of a brain or spinal cord injury is numbness in your hands or fingers. It can happen right away after the injury or affect you more slowly.
Shoulder injury
A shoulder injury (also known as a brachial plexus injury) can happen due to pressure, stress, extreme stretching, and other reasons. It can result in a loss of sensation in your arm or hand.
Multiple sclerosis
Many people with multiple sclerosis, a central nervous system disease, have numbness in different parts of their bodies, including the hands. It may be a pins-and-needles feeling, or like your hands have fallen asleep, and it can affect everyday activities, like writing and getting dressed.
Finger numbness and infections
Finger numbness is a symptom of infections such as Lyme disease or syphilis .
Chemotherapy and numbness
If you're having chemotherapy to treat cancer, one side effect is peripheral neuropathy, which is tingling or numbness in your hands or feet. It may go away once you stop chemo or stay with you permanently.
Vitamin B12 deficiency
A lack of vitamin B12 can trigger numbness or tingling in your hands or feet.
Raynaud’s phenomenon
Raynaud’s phenomenon, a condition that limits blood flow to your skin, can cause your fingers to feel numb when they're cold or when you're under stress.
If your finger numbness is a new symptom, doesn’t go away, or becomes painful, tell your doctor.
Get emergency medical help if numbness in your hand or arm is sudden or happens after a head injury. If you have any weakness, trouble thinking or talking, a sudden, severe headache, or feel dizzy, you also need to get help right away.
Takeaways
Numbness in your fingers can happen for different reasons. It might be due to nerve damage from conditions like diabetes or carpal tunnel syndrome, where the nerves in your wrist get squeezed. Sometimes, alcohol abuse can lead to nerve damage too. Fibromyalgia, a condition causing widespread pain, can also result in numb fingers. And issues like strokes, injuries, infections, or even chemotherapy can cause finger numbness. If you have numbness that's painful or doesn't go away, especially suddenly or after an injury, it's essential to consult a doctor.