Inflammation and the painful feeling of burning sensation are always a given to an individual with gout. These two symptoms of gout are sometimes being accompanied by the feeling of numbness and tingling. Isn’t it an annoying set of painful symptoms? But, aren’t you curious about the relationship of gout with the feeling of numbness and tingling? In case you do, then take note of the things you will learn with the succeeding paragraphs.
This article explains the relationship between gout, numbness and tingling. Keep reading and be well informed.
Numbness and Tingling. What do they indicate?
The painfully weird feeling of tingling sensation occurs usually in our legs, feet, arms, or fingers. This happens when we don’t move a part of our body for a while without changing its position. I say that this tingling sensation are painfully weird because in some cases, this feeling is not always entirely painful at all. Sometimes it can be just a weird feeling which makes it annoying and irritating, but not in the case of gout.
The condition of having too many acids in the body also known as Acidosis is the cause of the feeling of tingling and numbness.
Generally, numbness and tingling can be caused by three things:
- Use of certain medicines
- Peripheral nerves are damaged
- Lack of blood supply to the affected area.
In the case of acidosis, lack of blood supply and peripheral nerve damage is the cause of numbness and tingling.
Too many acids in the body can damage the endothelial layer of the blood vessels. This can cause abnormal vasodilation and vasoconstriction or the widening and narrowing of the blood vessels. This can cause an abnormal blood pressure along with lack of blood supply which may severely damage the nerves as well. Furthermore, acids are filled with freely floating hydrogen ions and atoms. These are free radicals that react with anything they collide with, this includes the walls of your cells. As they “stick” to the walls of the cells, they will alter the original negative charge of the cell walls. Supposed to be, cells, including the blood cells, will repel each other since they have similar charges. But, as the free radicals alter the degree of the charges, some cells become dominantly positive, causing them to be attracted to the negatively charged cells. This can cause the blood of an acidic person to thicken. You can observe the freshly drawn blood of a gout sufferer and see that the blood is somewhat dark. Under dark field microscopy, it is visibly evident that the blood cells are sticking to each other.
Due to the thickening of the blood, the pumping of blood done by the circulatory system will be harder. Thick blood, combined with endothelial dysfunction, can lead to lack of blood supply which can lead to cell damage which triggers numbness and tingling.
Cell Damage due to Acidosis
Unlike the central nervous system, the peripheral nervous system is very vulnerable to chemical and mechanical stress. This means that acids will easily damage the nerves hence causing numbness and tingling. They will be more exposed to the corroding power of the free radicals. In fact, even the central nervous system (mainly the brain) can be a victim if you suffer from extreme acidosis. These acids are supposed to have no effect against the brain, but with too many acids the blood-brain barrier, composed of mostly endothelial cells, can be breached. Needless to say, this can be fatal.
Furthermore, continuous damage of cells will also result in more damaged insulin receptors. This makes the cells reject glucose which forces the blood to absorb more sugar. The high level of sugar in the blood makes it thick and this can cause a greater blood supply shortage and may result in diabetes.
Conclusion
The linkage of numbness and tingling is due to lack of blood supply in the affected area and also due to the condition is known as acidosis. This numbness and tingling shouldn’t be treated lightly because this symptom can also mean other conditions which may need immediate attention. If an individual experience any of the mentioned symptoms, it is advisable for them to visit their doctors to be treated properly.
