paresthesia
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GC: n

S: NIH – https://goo.gl/xnXDJs (last access: 21 November 2018); SDir – https://bit.ly/2r1Jgwf (last access: 24 November 2018).

N: 1. 1835, paraesthesia also paresthesia (n), from para- (here “disordered”) + Greek aisthesis “perception, feeling” (from PIE root *au- “to perceive”) + abstract noun ending -ia.
2. Maybe you fell asleep with your arm pinned under you. Or you kept your legs crossed too long. Chances are, you’ve had a “pins and needles” feeling in your limbs, fingers, or feet. That prickling, burning, tingling, numb, itching, or “skin crawling” feeling is called paresthesia. it’s usually painless and harmless. But sometimes it can be a sign of a more serious medical problem. Paresthesia is caused by pressure on a nerve. When that pressure is gone, you uncross your legs, for example, the feeling goes away. But in some cases, it doesn’t go away. Or if it does, it comes back regularly. That’s called chronic paresthesia, and it can be a sign of a medical condition or nerve damage.
3. When a person experiences paresthesia, symptoms from a wide-range of possibilities may occur such as numbness, tingling, or burning. These sensations may be, but not only, felt in the fingers, hands, toes, or feet. There are a number of potential causes such as migraines, alcoholism, neuropathy, malnutrition, menopause, dehydration, fibromyalgia, herpes zoster, hypoglycemia, fabry disease or nerve irritation.
4. Chronic paresthesia is often a symptom of an underlying neurological disease or traumatic nerve damage. Paresthesia can be caused by disorders affecting the central nervous system, such as stroke and transient ischemic attacks (mini-strokes), multiple sclerosis, transverse myelitis, and encephalitis. A tumor or vascular lesion pressed up against the brain or spinal cord can also cause paresthesia. Nerve entrapment syndromes, such as carpal tunnel syndrome, can damage peripheral nerves and cause paresthesia accompanied by pain.
5. Paresthesia or paraesthesia: terms usually used in the plural. However, paresthesia is the term recommended by the Medical Signs and Symptoms Committee.
6. It’s easy to confuse dysesthesia with paresthesia or hyperalgesia, both of which can also occur with MS. Paresthesia describes sensory symptoms such as numbness and tingling, “skin crawling,” or that “pins and needles” feeling. It’s distracting and uncomfortable, but not generally considered painful. Hyperalgesia is an exaggerated response to painful stimuli.
Dysesthesia is more severe than paresthesia and has no apparent stimuli.

S: 1. OED – https://goo.gl/w4A612 (last access: 21 November 2018). 2. WebMD – https://goo.gl/USDnqz (last access: 21 November 2018. 3 & 4. DW – https://goo.gl/2nntyz (last access: 21 November 2018). 5. TERMIUM PLUS – https://goo.gl/jqkYrj (last access: 21 November 2018). 6. HLN – https://bit.ly/2BvW5oR (last access: 24 November 2018).

GV: paraesthesia


S: TERMIUMPLUS – https://goo.gl/jqkYrj (last access: 21 November 2018).

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CR: dysesthesia, Guillain-Barré syndrome.