Patient's question:
Doctor, my hands and feet have been numb for several years, but no cause has been found. I have tried many medications, acupuncture, and other methods, but nothing has worked. What could be the reason? The hospital couldn't find any cause either, and various medications and acupuncture methods have been ineffective. I need a doctor with extensive experience to diagnose and treat this.Doctor's answer:
Numbness of the limbs. It primarily manifests as numbness in the bones and muscles or limbs, which may be accompanied by pain, weakness, and a loss or disappearance of sensation in the skin of the limbs. Numbness is not pain or itching; it feels as if insects are moving within the muscles, and pressing does not stop the bleeding, while scratching worsens it. When numbness occurs, there is a loss of awareness of both pain and itching, and the true vital energy cannot reach the affected area, creating a sensation akin to thick wood. The Heart Method of Danxi (Volume 4): "Numbness in the bones and muscles is due to qi deficiency, while numbness in the bones and muscles is caused by dampness-phlegm and dead blood." The condition of numbness is considered an inflammation of qi and blood, and in clinical diagnosis, it often presents complex variations of deficiency and excess, or a mixture of both. It is commonly caused by qi deficiency leading to impaired transportation, blood deficiency resulting in poor nourishment, dampness and wind blocking the limbs, and phlegm and blood stasis causing stagnation. In the case of numbness, the root cause is qi and blood deficiency, while wind, cold, dampness, phlegm, and blood stasis are the secondary factors. Although the causes of numbness are varied, their underlying mechanism is the inability of qi and blood to circulate and supply properly, leading to the malnourishment of the skin, muscles, and meridians. The fundamental causes of numbness are insufficient qi and blood, stagnation of cold, blocked blood vessels, and the inability of qi and blood to nourish the meridians.For individuals aged 40 and above, especially those who are overweight, if numbness is observed in the index, middle fingers, or base of the tongue, active measures should be taken to prevent the recurrence of stroke during work. Numbness that worsens on rainy or damp days should be addressed with attention to preventing cold and dampness, particularly extreme cold, prolonged exposure to cold, or cold weather, which often alleviates the symptoms of numbness.