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What is acroparesthesia?

Acroparesthesia is a tingling, prickling, burning, or numb feeling in the hands or feet. These feelings, which can be very painful, are sometimes the result of compressed nerves in the affected areas.Acroparesthesia is a form of paresthesia, which is an abnormal sensation in the body, such as prickling or itching. You have probably experienced mild, temporary paresthesia if you’ve ever felt pins and needles when your foot, say, has fallen asleep after crossing your legs for too long.Paresthesia is a neurological condition. Chronic paresthesia can be caused by a variety of disorders that affect the nervous system, including carpal tunnel syndrome, stroke, and multiple sclerosis.Acroparesthesia is one of the major symptoms of Fabry disease, a rare genetic disorder. In people with this disease, episodes of acroparesthesia can be especially intense and severe.Two kinds of acroparesthesia are classified as peripheral vascular diseases, which especially affect blood vessels outside the heart that convey blood to the extremities of the body. Atherosclerosis, or when fatty substances result in the buildup of plaque on artery walls, is the leading cause of peripheral vascular disease.The first kind is simple acroparesthesia, also known as Schultze’s type, and is named for Friedrich Schultze, a German neurologist who notably described acroparesthesia in the 1890s. The second is vasomotor acroparesthesia, or Nothnagel’s type, after another German neurologist, Hermann Nothnagel.Schultze and Nothnagel provided some of the earliest accounts of acroparesthesia. Some researchers maintain that, today, most of the early patients with acroparesthesia would actually be diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome.While uncommonly used outside of medical and scientific contexts, acroparesthesia received some popular attention—and concern—during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. In a small percentage of patients, doctors found that some people infected with COVID-19 showed signs of neurological conditions, including seizures, strokes, and acroparesthesia.