Legs play an essential role in helping us perform our body functions with stability and strength every day. They make us move and achieve our tasks correctly and with satisfaction. Still, if something is wrong with them, we feel very uncomfortable and uneasy due to interference in our casual movement. Legs can face multiple problems due to several causes as they perform in charge of holding and moving our whole body every day and all the time.
Some of the problems that occur in our legs include muscle pain or tingling, numbness, and painful nerve stretch. These problems carry out their symptoms, which may seem minor, but sometimes even the minor signs turn out to be some severe illness hidden inside our body. One of the common problems that people face is numbness in their thighs. How does this happen? Let’s look at some answers in further details:
Why do we feel numbness in the thigh?
Many reasons are present in medical research that can cause deadness or numbness in the thigh. These causes include keeping the legs crossed for a long time, wearing fitted fabric or clothing, multiple sclerosis (MS), and lupus. Treatment alternatives for the numbness in thigh rely upon what is causing the deadness feeling in the affected part.
Numbness or tingling in thigh has another name in the medical field known as Meralgia paresthetica, which is known as a neurological condition that is responsible for these abnormalities in the leg. According to a well-known journal, it can affect people aged 30-40. Meralgia paresthetica can occur in people with multiple reasons like obesity, pregnancy, and issues that increase within the abdomen, such as an abdominal hernia.
Other problems that have symptoms of numbness in legs or things
Numbness doesn’t limit itself to one or two issues. Some of the severe conditions that add the sign of numbness, tingling, and burning are lupus, MS, tumor, peripheral artery disease, pinched nerve, diabetic neuropathy, and tight clothing. Problems with anesthesia or numbness symptoms may require attention immediately as it can result in something more severe in the coming future.
Problems and their treatments with numbness as a symptom
Let’s look at some details related to the issues that we mentioned above with symptoms of numbness in the thigh and other similar signs along with their treatments to help anyone out understand their condition.
Lupus: Lupus comes in the same category of numbness and tingling problem in thighs, and it’s also called an autoimmune condition that affects the nervous system deeply. People who carry out this problem face similar symptoms of numbness, tingling, and burning, while lupus affects their peripheral nervous system.
Treatment: There is no fixed cure for lupus, but doctors usually recommend treatments like non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), steroids, immune suppressants, and other medication. Eating healthy and exercising, along with staying away from smoking, also works great to treat lupus properly.
MS (multiple sclerosis): If an individual faces tingling or numbness in less extreme areas like thighs, it also comes in the category of MS. MS is responsible for making one side of the body feel numb. It also affects the brain and spinal cord by attacking the protective fibers on the outside of an individual’s nerves. Because of this scenario, it’s hard for the brain to communicate with the affected side causing it to tingle or go numb while losing overall sensation.
Treatment: Right now, there is no cure for MS; however, you can get yourself treated through medications and steroids as prescribed by your physician. The doctor may prescribe you modifying medicines that will help with your problem to slow down the progression. You can also get physical therapy and muscle relaxants to overcome regular spasms.
Tumor: There is a possibility that you can develop a tumor in soft tissues in your thigh, which will press on the blood vessels and nerves, affecting it with tingling and numbness. They are called ‘soft tissue sarcomas’ by doctors. They are found in areas like cartilage, fat, muscles, and tendons of thighs.
Treatment: To treat the tumor, it depends on where the cancer is present in the thigh areas and how much it’s affecting it. Usually, the doctor will prescribe surgery to remove the tumor along with any radiation therapy or chemotherapy to kill the cancerous cells.
Peripheral artery disease: Also known as PAD, the condition occurs when a large amount of plaque is built up in blood vessels inside the thighs. It affects blood flow and presents symptoms of numbness and pain. Some of the other symptoms for PAD include:
- pain when climbing high
- heavy feeling in leg muscles
- feeling cold and warm on different sides of the leg
- slow toenail or leg hair growth on the affected area
- weak pulse in legs and feet
- sores on the feet
- Legs heal slowly and pale or bluish skin.
Treatment: Treating PAD depends on its progressions as doctors may suggest surgical ways to restore the flow of blood in the leg and thigh. The patient may also be guided for lifestyle changes and to adapt meal plans and exercises to keep the blood flow stronger in legs. The person who is facing PAD must quit smoking, follow a heart-healthy diet, and improve physical activity.
Pinched Nerve: A pinched nerve is a compression on a particular area by a specific problem. The symptoms for pinched nerve are pain that goes down the leg, back pain, difficulties in mobility, and weakness on one or both sides of the legs. The affected person also feels uncomfortable in regular movements, and if he is losing bowel or bladder control or pushing off with foot sensation, he must contact his doctor instantly.
Treatment: Physical therapies are recommended to treat pinched nerves along with some NSAIDs. If the situation doesn’t get better, the patient may have to go through a surgical procedure.