• Question: what causes us to get 'pins and needles'??

    Asked by jennydsc2000 to Ben, James, Jen, Michael, Susanna on 18 Mar 2013.
    • Photo: Jen Todd Jones

      Jen Todd Jones answered on 18 Mar 2013:

      I’m not sure actually! I know it’s because that area has been deprived of blood because you’ve been sitting on an artery funny, after you move the blood returns and the limb start to tingle as the blood rushed back to the cells. I’d imagine its an important mechanism for the body since if your limbs were without blood for long enough the cells would actually die, blacken and drop off – now that doesn’t sound pleasant at all!

    • Photo: Michael Craig

      Michael Craig answered on 18 Mar 2013:

      Hi Jenny, as Jen has said ‘pins and needles’ or paresthesia, is due to a decreased level of blood flow to your nerves in a certain part of the body e.g. people often get pins and needles in their lower legs when kneeling as the pressure on the knees lowers the blood flow to the lower part of the limb. Some people can get pins and needles very badly over the long-term, this can be caused by different things such as diabetes, nerve damage, or autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis.

      Michael

    • Photo: Susanna Martin

      Susanna Martin answered on 18 Mar 2013:

      Just to add on to Jen and Michael, the NHS website has a good explanation of pins and needles:
      http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Pins-and-needles/Pages/Introduction.aspx

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