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Can anxiety make you feel like you have nerve damage?


Anxiety is a common condition that involves excessive worrying, nervousness, and tension. Many people with anxiety experience physical symptoms like rapid heartbeat, sweating, trembling, dizziness, and shortness of breath. Some people with anxiety may also have sensations like tingling, numbness, and burning that can feel similar to nerve damage or neuropathy. However, anxiety itself does not directly cause permanent nerve damage or neuropathy. The uncomfortable body sensations are caused by the effects of anxiety on the nervous system. With treatment and management of anxiety, these sensations usually improve.

What causes the tingling and numbness with anxiety?

The main causes of the tingling, numbness, and other odd sensations associated with anxiety include:

  • Hyperventilation – Overbreathing caused by anxiety leads to low carbon dioxide levels in the blood, causing numbness and tingling.
  • Muscle tension – Anxiety can make muscles tense up for long periods, putting pressure on nerves and causing odd sensations.
  • Adrenaline release – Anxiety releases stress hormones like adrenaline that can make nerves oversensitive and cause unpleasant sensations.
  • Poor circulation – Anxiety may constrict blood vessels, reducing blood flow to hands and feet making them feel numb or tingly.
  • Hypersensitivity – High anxiety makes people focus intensely on body sensations that they may not normally notice.

These factors associated with anxiety can cause tingling, numbness, and burning sensations, but they do not indicate any underlying nerve damage or permanent neuropathy. The sensations are temporary and reversible with anxiety treatment.

Common locations of tingling and numbness

Some of the most common locations people experience anxiety-related tingling and numbness include:

  • Hands and fingers
  • Feet and toes
  • Arms and legs
  • Lips and face
  • Head and scalp

Areas furthest from the heart like hands and feet are most vulnerable as anxiety can reduce circulation to these extremities. Moving and stretching helps relieve the numbness and tingling in many cases. The lips, face, and scalp may tingle or feel numb because these areas contain many sensitive nerves that are affected by anxiety.

Anxiety can mimic feelings of nerve damage

While anxiety doesn’t cause true nerve damage, the physical sensations can feel very similar to peripheral neuropathy or other nerve disorders. Common anxiety symptoms that can mimic nerve problems include:

  • Tingling, burning, itching, or crawling skin
  • Numbness and loss of sensation
  • Weakness and tremors
  • Shooting pains and aches
  • Dizziness and balance issues

These odd and often uncomfortable sensations are caused by the effects of adrenaline, muscle tension, hyperventilation, and anxiety’s other physical symptoms. Feeling like your nerves are damaged can increase anxiety and make the problem worse. Recognizing that anxiety is the root cause, not true nerve damage, can help alleviate fears.

When to see a doctor

While anxiety doesn’t directly cause nerve injury, extremely high levels of chronic anxiety can sometimes lead to peripheral neuropathy in rare cases. It’s important to see a doctor if you have:

  • Progressive numbness or loss of sensation that persists even when anxiety is well-managed
  • Tingling accompanied by muscle weakness
  • Burning sensations and hypersensitivity to touch
  • Loss of coordination, balance, or trouble walking

Seeking medical advice can determine if anxiety is the cause or if there is an underlying neurological issue that requires treatment. Diagnostic tests like CT scans, MRIs, bloodwork, nerve conduction studies, and more can check for nerve compression, vitamin deficiencies, infections, diabetes, or other causes.

Treatments for anxiety-related nerve sensations

For tingling and numbness caused by anxiety, the most effective treatment approach is to get anxiety under control. Treatment options that can help minimize anxiety symptoms and associated nerve-like sensations include:

Therapy and counseling

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure therapy, and other talk therapies help identify negative thought patterns contributing to anxiety. You also learn techniques to control anxiety, manage stress, and change thought patterns.

Medications

Anti-anxiety medications like benzodiazepines, buspirone, antidepressants like SSRIs and SNRIs can minimize anxiety levels and associated symptoms like tingling.

Relaxation techniques

Deep breathing, meditation, mindfulness, yoga, and muscle relaxation help calm the body and turn down the hyperstimulation contributing to anxiety symptoms.

Exercise and healthy lifestyle

Regular exercise, balanced nutrition, enough sleep, limited alcohol/caffeine, staying hydrated, and quitting smoking can all help reduce anxiety levels.

Trigger avoidance

If certain situations trigger anxiety and nerve symptoms like public speaking or crowds, avoiding triggers can minimize symptoms.

When anxiety is well-managed, the sensations fade

The key thing to understand is that when anxiety is brought under control with therapy, lifestyle changes, medications, etc., the tingling and numbness should improve significantly or disappear entirely. Any nerve-like sensations that linger even when anxiety is well-managed should be evaluated by a doctor to check for other possible causes.

Conclusion

Unpleasant sensations like tingling, numbness, and burning can absolutely be caused by anxiety, but are not a sign of true nerve damage or permanent neuropathy. The symptoms are created by temporary effects of adrenaline, muscle tension, hyperventilation, and hypersensitivity from anxiety. By treating the underlying anxiety with therapy, medications, lifestyle changes, and other methods, the sensations can be minimized or eliminated. Some evaluation by a doctor may help rule out other potential causes if the sensations persist. But for the vast majority of people, getting anxiety under control will take away the feelings of nerve damage and provide relief from the uncomfortable symptoms.