Numbness & Tingling
Functional medicine support tailored to uncover the root cause of complex symptoms.
Consult with our care team to understand next steps and build a personalized plan.
Serving Denver Metro, Fort Collins, and Colorado Springs.
About This Condition
Numbness and tingling (paresthesias) describe altered or reduced sensation, often perceived as pins-and-needles, buzzing, crawling, or loss of feeling in part of the body. They can be intermittent or persistent, localized or diffuse, and may be accompanied by pain, weakness, or other neurologic symptoms. Patients may note symptoms in a single nerve distribution, a limb, a stocking–glove pattern, or patchy areas.
These sensations arise when sensory pathways are disturbed anywhere from peripheral nerves and nerve roots to the spinal cord, brainstem, or cortex. Common causes include compressive or entrapment neuropathies, radiculopathy, peripheral neuropathy (metabolic, toxic, nutritional, or immune-mediated), transient ischemia, and central nervous system disease. Benign transient paresthesias from pressure on a nerve (“limb falling asleep”) also occur and typically resolve quickly with position change.
Clinical evaluation focuses on clarifying the anatomic pattern (focal, multifocal, or generalized), time course (acute, subacute, chronic), associated weakness or autonomic symptoms, and red flags such as gait disturbance, sphincter dysfunction, or stroke-like features. Examination maps sensory deficits, tests strength and reflexes, and looks for upper motor neuron signs. Management targets the underlying cause, with attention to metabolic health, nerve compression, vascular risk, and symptom control, while recognizing that multiple factors often contribute in complex patients.
Common Symptoms
- •Subjective sensation of numbness, reduced feeling, or “deadness” in part of a limb or body region
- •Tingling, pins-and-needles, crawling, or buzzing sensations in fingers, toes, hands, feet, or other areas
- •Symptoms that may be intermittent or persistent, and may worsen with certain positions, activities, or time of day
- •Associated burning or electric shock–like pain in some neuropathic conditions
- •Occasional accompanying weakness, clumsiness, or difficulty with fine motor tasks or balance
- •Heightened sensitivity or discomfort to light touch or temperature in some affected areas
Conventional Treatment Options
Metabolic and nutrient support
Movement and nerve support
Symptom management
Our Functional Medicine Approach
Nerve symptoms deserve a real diagnostic
Numbness, tingling, and burning sensations rarely come from "just stress." They can reflect peripheral neuropathy from blood sugar dysregulation, B12 / methylation issues, autoimmune nerve damage, post-viral nerve injury, spinal compression, or central sensitization that's outlived its original trigger. The protocol that helps one pattern can do nothing for another — so the diagnostic work matters.
How Spire works the root cause
We pair our Regenerative Medicine Program with targeted neuropathy diagnostics — glucose / insulin patterns, B12 and methylation cofactors, autoimmune nerve panels where indicated, and imaging when a structural cause is suspected. For chronic neuropathic pain that has resisted standard care, we layer in Axon Therapy, our non-invasive magnetic peripheral nerve stimulation device, which reconditions central pain processing.
Who this is for
Adults with persistent numbness, tingling, or burning in hands, feet, or limbs, patients with diabetic neuropathy or post-surgical / post-traumatic nerve pain, and anyone who has been told "it's idiopathic" without a structured workup.