paraesthesia

Thân thiện

A patient describes a feeling of paraesthesia in their hand.

Definition

Noun: A sensation of tingling, tickling, prickling, itching, or burning of a person's skin with no apparent physical cause. It is a symptom often associated with nerve damage or dysfunction.

Examples

• Patients with diabetes may experience paraesthesia in their feet.
• The paraesthesia in her fingers was a side effect of the medication.
• Temporary paraesthesia, often described as "pins and needles," can occur after sitting in one position for too long.

Advanced Usage

• Clinical Context: In medical terminology, paraesthesia specifically denotes abnormal sensations that occur spontaneously, without an external stimulus. It is distinguished from dysaesthesia, which is an unpleasant abnormal sensation.
• "Paraesthesia was present": A common phrase in medical documentation to note the symptom.
  • Neurological examination revealed that paraesthesia was present in the left upper limb.

Variants and Related Words

• Paresthesia (noun): The American English spelling of the same condition.
• Paraesthetic (adj): Relating to or characterized by paraesthesia (less common).
• Hyperaesthesia: Increased sensitivity to stimulation.
• Dysaesthesia: An unpleasant, abnormal sense of touch.

Synonyms

• Tingling
• Pins and needles
• Numbness (though numbness implies loss of sensation, it is often used alongside paraesthesia)
• Formication (specifically the sensation of insects crawling on the skin)

Idioms and Common Phrases

• "Pins and needles": A common idiom for temporary paraesthesia.
  • My foot has gone to sleep, and now I have pins and needles.

Học thuật

Noun

1. abnormal skin sensations (as tingling or tickling or itching or burning) usually associated with peripheral nerve damage

Từ đồng nghĩa

• paresthesia