Treatments for Tingling Extremities

Three Approaches to Treating Tingling Extremities

There are three levels of treatment for tingling hands and feet from which women can choose: (1) Lifestyle changes, (2) Alternative Medicine, and (3) Conventional medicine. The goal is to begin with the most natural treatments and move on to pharmacological treatments only if necessary.

Lifestyle Changes for Treating Tingling Extremities

Making slight changes in one's lifestyle is the first level of paresthesia treatment. It involves the lowest risks but, conversely, the most self-discipline.

Nutritious Diet

A woman's nutrition is crucial to her physical health, especially while her body undergoes rapid hormonal changes and experiences various symptoms, like tingling extremities. As such, it is key to maintain a well-balanced menopause diet with foods rich in healthy fats, complex carbs, and lean protein as well as the following micronutrients:

• Phytoestrogens are plant compounds that exert weak estrogenic effects on the body, helping treat pins and needles and other menopause ailments.

• Soy, alfalfa, oats, tomatoes, flax

• Vitamin B₁₂ deficiency is one of the most common causes of tingling extremities. Low levels of other B vitamins may also cause similar symptoms.¹

• Almonds, chicken, eggs, fish, milk

• Potassium is crucial for nerve function, and its inadequate levels may give rise to tingling sensations or numbness throughout the body.²

• Tomato, white beans, bananas, mushrooms

• Calcium deficiency can cause tingling or burning sensation in the extremities and lips.³

• Amaranth, asparagus, blackberries, brazil nuts

Regular Exercise

Regular exercise in an important component in the treatment plan for numbness in hands and feet. It helps reduce stress, improve circulation, and manage weight gain. Additionally, staying physically active can trigger the release of compounds that aid in controlling mood swings and alleviating depression or anxiety.

• Amount: The recommendation for healthy adults is to do 150 minutes of low- to moderate-level exercises per week, or 75 minutes of high-intensity activity.⁴

• Type: It is best to combine aerobic exercises, like dancing or jogging, with muscle-strengthening workouts, like those involving resistance bands. Walking outdoors can also be beneficial for treating tingling extremities.

• Useful tips: Besides regular workouts, women can do simple stretches several times a day to reduce tight muscles and help control tingling in the arms, hands, and feet.

• Precautions: Because the risk of osteoporosis is higher among middle-aged women due to hormonal imbalance, they are advised to stay away from strenuous or injury-prone sports.⁵

Wholesome Habits

To complement a healthy diet and exercise, women can consider various healthy habits that promote hormonal balance, relax the mind, and improve mood while they undergo adequate numbness in hands and feet treatment.

• Relieving stress is key in treating tingling extremities as prolonged high cortisol levels can cause muscle tension, leading to painful pins and needles.⁶ Meditation, yoga, or deep breathing exercises are good options.

• Maintaining correct sleeping position can help treat pins and needles as some may press on the nerves, causing bothersome discomforts.⁷

• Preventing a stationary lifestyle can relieve tingling or numb legs and feet. It can be done by getting up, taking short walks, or stretching frequently throughout the day, especially if spending a long time in one position.

• Quitting additions to alcohol, nicotine, and illicit drugs is key for relieving symptoms and maintaining good health. All of these substances are known to cause nerve damage, resulting in tingling sensations.^8,9,10

Alternative Medicine for Treating Tingling Extremities

Alternative medicine, which comprises the second treatment level, offers a number of options to treat menopausal tingling extremities by tackling its underlying cause, hormonal imbalance, at its source.

There are two types of herbal supplements that can be beneficial in paresthesia treatments: phytoestrogenic and hormone-balancing supplements.

Phytoestrogenic Supplements

Phytoestrogenic supplements, like ginseng, work by introducing phytoestrogens - or plant-based estrogenic compounds - into the body, which mimic the body's own estrogen. This promotes hormonal balance to relieve menopausal ailments, including relieving tingling extremities. However, their long-term use may cause the body to become less able to produce its own hormones, resulting in further imbalance. 

Hormone-Regulating Supplements

Hormone-regulating supplements, like Macafem, do not contain any outside hormones. Rather, they function by providing the hormonal glands with nutrients to stimulate their own hormone production. This balances not only estrogen levels, but also those of progesterone and testosterone, thus alleviating symptoms of an imbalance. Since hormone-balancing supplements carry virtually no side effects, they are safe for long-term use.

A combination of lifestyle changes and herbal supplements is usually the most effective and holistic option for treating tingling extremities. In some cases, however, it is necessary to consider conventional approaches.

Conventional Medicine for Treating Tingling Extremities

Conventional approaches to treating tingling extremities - consisting of medications and surgery - may carry the highest cost and risk of side effects. As such, their use should be evaluated on an individual basis for optimal results.

Medications

The choice of medications for tingling hands and feet will depend on the underlying cause. It includes, but is not limited to, the following: 

• Cause-specific medications may include cortisone injections if symptoms are due to spinal stenosis; blood-controlling medications if due to diabetes; synthetic thyroid hormones if due to hypothyroidism; or anti-inflammatory drugs if due to inflammation.

• Hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which contains estrogen, progesterone, or their combination, used to be the go-to treatment for tingling extremities and other menopause ailments. While HRT can relieve symptoms, its use has been linked to serious side effects and increased health risks, as the following studies have shown.

Surgery

Surgical interventions may be used as treatment for tingling extremities if symptoms are due to carpal tunnel syndrome, neuropathy, or spinal cord injury, among others.

Since women's needs change during the menopausal transition, they may naturally move between the three aforementioned levels of tingling extremities treatments to ease their symptoms. Nevertheless, more and more are finding that a combination of herbal supplements and lifestyle changes is the most effective way to fight menopausal ailments.

A Safe Way of Treating Tingling Extremities