All those numb hands and feet have blood circulation problems?Watch out for peripheral neuropathy.

[Anchor]
Sometimes when you feel numb in your hands or toes, you may have experienced sleeping hard thinking that there must be a problem with blood circulation.

However, these symptoms are not just blood circulation problems, but they may be peripheral neuropathy, so caution is needed.

Reporter Kim Joo-young reports.

[Reporter]
There are often people around us who suffer from numbness in their hands and toes.

Many people use blood circulation as the cause, kneading their hands and feet, or using hot packs.

Experts stress that peripheral neuropathy, not blood circulation, should be suspected as the cause.

Peripheral neuropathy is a disease caused by damage to the nerves of the arms and legs, which are the ends of the body.

There are also a variety of them.

From compression peripheral neuropathy caused by nerves being pressed by other tissues such as ligaments, such as wrist tunnel syndrome, various neuropathy caused by diabetes or alcohol, and Guillain-Barre syndrome caused by pneumonia or enteritis are all peripheral neuropathy.

It is important to find the exact cause through a nerve conduction test.

Even after extensive examination, about 25% of them cannot find the cause.

[Lee Hye-rim / Professor of Neurology at Korea University Guro Hospital: One out of four cases of unknown cause, about 25% of cases of unknown cause. If the symptoms are not treated, the pain or sensory abnormalities get worse and this causes a lot of deterioration in quality of life....]

This is why it is important to prevent you from getting peripheral neuropathy at all.

Experts stress that diabetes, a common cause, should be actively managed.

It also explains that it is better to stay away from alcohol and avoid tight clothes that interfere with blood circulation and postures that put pressure on the nerves.

I'm Kim Joo-young of YTN.