Abnormal Feelings or Numbness in Arms and Hands

Question: I have many symptoms of PPS and am experiencing severe pins and needles in my left hand. Sometimes in my thumb and next 2 fingers. Sometimes only in my ring and pinkie fingers. Sometimes all 5 fingers. Feelings are there all the time now, just slightly. But sometimes my entire hand is completely numb and can last up to 4 hours. When this happens, “waking “ my hand up is extremely painful. My left elbow is really sore as well. Could this have to do with polio or be part of PPS. I have an appointment with a neurologist soon, thought knowing one way or the other if PPS could be involved would help. 

Dr. Bruno’s Response: Many, if not most, polio survivors with leg muscle weakness have compensated for years by stressing their arms and hands using canes or crutches, pushing a wheelchair or just by using their arms to push themselves up and out of a chair. This kind of arm and hand overuse can cause pinching of sensory (feeling) nerves in the neck, arms or wrists, producing numbness, a cold sensation and pins and needles. The best known type of pinching Causing hand symptoms is carpal tunnel syndrome, where tendons forming the tunnel “squeeze” the nerves as they travel across the wrist.

Abnormal feelings in your thumb and next two fingers are common with pinching the median nerve (orange color).

Abnormal feelings in your ring and pinkie fingers can result from pinching the ulnar nerve (green color) as it crosses the elbow through the tendons forming the cubital tunnel, called cubital tunnel syndrome. If your entire hand feels "completely dead” and your left elbow is sore, there also could be pinching of the median nerve across your elbow.

It may be time to talk to your rehabilitation physician or neurologist about having a nerve conduction velocity study, which uses electrical pulses to see if the nerves are being pinched.