Tingling in Left Arm and Fingers

Feeling pins and needles along your arms is very common. The tingling sensation often radiates to the fingers making them feel partially numb as well. Most of the time, if you've noticed, the pins-n-needles sensation follows when you move your arm after resting heavily on it or after you've kept it folded and put pressure on it for quite sometime.

During that time, the blood circulation in your arm gets restricted and the flow of blood to the far end of the arm near the palm and fingers gets temporarily obstructed. When you unfold your arm and release the pressure therefrom, the sudden rush of blood is what gives you that tingling sensation. 

These incidents usually occur whenever your posture cuts off blood flow to a certain part of the body, especially if that part is a limb. However, frequent or persistent tingling in left arm and fingers, whether or not accompanied by certain other symptoms, often indicate towards more ominous physical conditions which may need immediate medical attention.

If you've felt tingling in left arm and fingers even when you were not resting on it or had kept it folded for a long time, you probably need to take it seriously. Numbness or left arm pain and tingling in fingers of the same arm at random or regular frequencies can be indicative of any of the given conditions:

► If experienced frequently, numbness or tingling in either arm and fingers thereof can be indicative of nerve damage along that arm. A common example of such a condition is the Carpal Tunnel Syndrome wherein the median nerve located along the wrist gets compressed, initially leading to tingling and numbness in the arm and fingers.

This condition can get excruciatingly painful if medical intervention is not sought at the initial stages itself.

► If tingling along left arm and fingers is accompanied by pain in the left side of the lower jaw as well, this could be a positive indication of a heart attack! In such a case, along with tingling, a blunt sort of pain is also felt along the left arm, shoulder and lower jaw on the same side as the arm and shoulder.

► Stroke, which is brought on by obstruction of blood flow to the brain, is often preceded by a tingling sensation in the left arm.

► Any damage to or disorder of the peripheral nervous system is also often symptomized by tingling sensation in the upper limbs and fingers. Conditions such as pinched nerve in the arm, shoulder or wrist can also lead to similar situations.

► Besides neurological factors and circulatory issues, muscular fatigue and weakness and inflammation of tendons can also lead to numbness and tingling in limbs which may be accompanied by a sense of weightlessness in the affected limb. For a short time, it feels as if the affected limb will give way under pressure and will not be able to support weight.

In case the tingling and numbness occurs due to reasons other than your arm gone to sleep (as when you sleep by resting your body weight on it or put a lot of pressure on it for a long time), it is best to solicit medical attention immediately. 

To avoid situations such as CTS and pinched nerve in arms, make sure you keep your wrist posture correct while using a keyboard. Also, when involved in typing or playing video games for lengthy durations, make sure to take short breaks and do some wrist exercises to prevent compression of nerves in the arms and allow adequate blood circulation to take place.

Be alert to any kind of tingling or numbness in any part of your body as these may be distress signals that are triggered by underlying physical conditions that are more sinister than the signals themselves.