Tingling in the legs

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Although it can occur in any area of ​​the body, tingling tingles tend to prefer the lower limbs (therefore legs, feet and fingers) and, sometimes, the upper ones.

for a relatively long period of time.
The temporary lack of blood supply in the legs can favor the appearance of tingling: often, this phenomenon manifests itself by assuming an incorrect position during sleep, or by remaining seated with the legs crossed for a long time without moving the limb.
However, in some cases, tingling in the legs is a "sign of important diseases, sometimes even very serious ones. When the annoying perception of numbness in the legs becomes a frequent condition, which lasts for several minutes, the patient should contact immediately. to the doctor to investigate the underlying cause.
Tingling in the legs can be a warning light for:

• Iron deficiency anemia: a rather subtle disease, iron deficiency anemia generally does not begin with any specific symptoms. As the disease progresses, iron deficiency anemia can trigger prodromas of varying degrees, including tingling in the legs.
• Atherosclerosis: the formation of an atherosclerotic plaque in an artery can impair movement, speech and / or walking ability. Tingling in the legs and arms are some of its characteristic symptoms.
• Vitamin deficiency: in some cases, tingling in the legs reflect alarm signals sent by the body to warn of a vitamin deficiency (eg Vit. B12).
• Intermittent claudication (or intermittent lameness): in addition to cramping pains in the legs and difficulty walking, the disease is often characterized by secondary symptoms such as weakness, cold extremities, dizziness and tingling in the legs.
• Impairment of a nerve along the spine: Tingling in the legs can occur as a result of compromising one or more nerves in the lumbo-sacral segment of the spine. In similar circumstances, the affected patient also generally complains of back pain, leg pain and more or less intense itching.
• Neurological damage induced by lead, alcohol or smoking.
• Arterial embolism: numbness and tingling in the arms or legs can be a sign of arterial embolism (blockage of one or more arteries caused by emboli, or blood clots or air bubbles).
• Epilepsy and seizures: Tingling in the legs is a premonitory symptom of epilepsy and seizures.
• Disc herniation: people with disc herniation often complain of numbness and tingling in the lower limbs. Sometimes, the tingling turns into a real pain, which can spread to the thigh, buttocks, knee and foot.
• Stroke: Stroke is the expression of an insufficient blood supply to a more or less extensive brain area. One of the leading symptoms of stroke is constituted by tingling, which can affect both the legs and the arms.
• Herpetic infections: Herpes simplex and Herpes zoster can cause numbness and tingling at the point of infection. In particular, the zoster species often causes tingling in the legs: in this case, paresthesia is temporary, and anticipates actual symptoms of the infection (very painful rash, fever, general malaise, chills, stomach pain, headache).
• Diabetic neuropathy: the disease is also characterized by numbness and tingling in the legs and feet, which often result in real pain.
• Transverse myelitis: this is a rare neuro-immune syndrome of the central nervous system, responsible for neuronal damage to the spinal cord. Transverse myelitis triggers motor and sensory dysfunctions, in which tingling in the legs is almost constant.
• Radiotherapy and chemotherapy: these therapeutic strategies for the treatment of tumors can cause a series of highly disabling side effects. It is not uncommon for cancer patients undergoing chemo / radiotherapy treatment to also complain of more or less intense tingling in different parts of the body: tingling often appears after contact with a very cold or very hot object, but can also occur suddenly, and hitting arms and legs.
• Sciatica: This disease (inflammation of the sciatic nerve) is also often accompanied by tingling in the legs.
• Multiple Sclerosis: Some multiple sclerosis patients report paresthesia-like symptoms throughout their body.
• Restless Legs Syndrome: Many patients who suffer from it complain of constant tingling in the legs, often during a night's rest. The numbness of the limbs tends to subside with movement, denying the unfortunate a restful sleep.
• Guillain-Barrè syndrome: in addition to breathing difficulties, neuropathic pain and blood clotting disorders, patients with Guillain-Barrè syndrome often complain of numbness and tingling in the legs, which can degenerate up to progressive paralysis of the limbs.
• Cervical spondylosis: it is a degenerative disease involving the spine, contiguous intervertebral tissues and vertebral bodies. Tingling in the legs, more or less intense, are quite recurrent symptoms among spondylosis patients.

incorrect or static, which limits the blood supply to the legs.
Different speech for frequent tingling, especially when the feeling of numbness lasts for more than 5-10 minutes. In such situations, the doctor's opinion is essential to verify a possible underlying pathology.
The differential diagnosis is fundamental. The most used diagnostic investigations for this purpose are:

1. Blood test: complete blood count, electrolyte test, measurement of the concentration of vitamins in the blood, toxicological screening (e.g. search for heavy metals), thyroid function test.
2. Screening tests: angiogram (representation of the blood / lymphatic vessels of the body), MRI of the head and spine, computed tomography of the head, CT of the spine, ultrasound of the vessels in the neck (to check the risk of stroke), leg x-ray.
3. Lumbar puncture (rachicentesis): the subsequent analysis of the CSF can ascertain or deny any abnormalities of the central nervous system.
4. Electromyography + nerve conduction test: useful for assessing the responsiveness of muscles to nerve stimulation.

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