Numbness in the legs
Leg numbness is a loss of feeling, often with tingling or pins and needles, in the legs, thighs or feet. It has many causes — pressed nerves, diabetes, low vitamin B12, poor blood flow — and sudden numbness on one side can be a stroke.
- About two out of three people with diabetes have mild to severe nerve problems
- More than 100 types of nerve damage (peripheral neuropathy) have been identified
- Numbness that comes on suddenly with weakness, slurred speech or trouble walking is an emergency
Source: NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; MedlinePlus
What is Numbness in the legs?
Feeling in the legs travels along nerves from the skin to the spinal cord and brain. Numbness means that message is weak or blocked somewhere along the way — in the nerve itself, where it leaves the spine, or in the brain.
Short numbness after sitting cross-legged is harmless and passes. Numbness that stays, spreads, or comes with burning, weakness or poor balance needs a doctor to find the cause.
What are the symptoms?
- Loss of feeling in the feet, legs or thighs
- Tingling, pins and needles, or a burning feeling
- Not feeling heat, cold or a small cut on the foot
- Weakness, poor balance or unsteady walking
- Leg discomfort that gets worse with walking
What causes it, and who is more likely to get it?
Pressure on a nerve
- Sitting or lying in one position too long
- A slipped disc or sciatica pressing on a nerve root
- An injury or fracture of the lower back
Body chemistry
- Diabetes
- Low vitamin B12
- Thyroid problems, kidney or liver disease
- Too much alcohol
Blood flow
Brain and spinal cord
- Stroke
- Multiple sclerosis
How is it found?
Because numbness has so many causes, the doctor looks for the one behind it before anything else.
Blood tests
Blood sugar, vitamin B12, thyroid, kidney and a full blood count.
Nerve tests
Electromyography and nerve studies measure how well the nerves and muscles carry signals.
Scans
A CT or MRI of the spine or brain, or an ultrasound of the leg's blood vessels, when the doctor suspects a pressed nerve, a stroke or poor blood flow.
Before working the legs, a neurotherapist compares both calves, looks at the feet for any ulcer, and checks whether the foot can feel touch. Any of these can change or stop the session.
How Neurotherapy sees Numbness in the legs
Guruji taught that wherever blood circulation is obstructed, pain or numbness is felt in that part. So LMNT's points for a numb leg or thigh are aimed at bringing the blood supply back to the legs.
Blood Supply to Legs is usually given thirty times on both legs; it is also used in polio, and some paralysis patients get relief from it. Blood Supply to Sides is for the side of the thighs. Vasanti, BOF and Lt. Parkhoo are also named in LMNT teaching for numbness in the legs.
Whenever there is an obstruction or blockage in the blood circulation of any part of the body, then pain or numbness is felt in that part.
Neurotherapy treatment for Numbness in the legs, step by step
Rule out an emergency
Sudden numbness with weakness, slurred speech or vision changes, numbness after a back injury, or loss of bladder or bowel control: 108/112 at once.
Examine first
The therapist checks Liv° and Mu°, compares both calves, looks at the feet for ulcers, and tests whether the foot can feel — and asks for the doctor's reports.
Blood supply to the legs and thighs
Blood Supply to Legs, usually thirty times on both legs; Blood Supply to Sides when the side of the thigh is numb.
Vasanti, BOF and Lt. Parkhoo
The other points LMNT names for numb legs. Vasanti is given very softly, and its direction matters — a foot that cannot feel is never pressed harder.
Points and formulas used
Never do this
- Emergency: sudden numbness or weakness, especially on one side, with slurred speech, vision changes, confusion or trouble walking, can be a stroke — call 108/112 at once. Numbness after a head, neck or back injury, or with loss of bladder or bowel control: hospital at once.
- Never work a calf that is swollen, warm and tender on one side only — that ends the session. It can be a clot in a deep vein; see a doctor the same day. Thrombosis
- In a foot that has lost feeling, the therapist works the leg and leaves the foot — and never presses harder because the person cannot feel it. sensation reduced Diabetic foot
- Any ulcer on a foot comes before every point on the chart — it needs a doctor's care first.
- Cancer: if the person has cancer, (10) Pan, Thymus, Pit, Lu + Sh, Rt. Ov / Lt. Ov and (30) Medulla are never given — the therapist changes the plan.
- Keep taking the medicines your doctor prescribed, including those for diabetes. Neurotherapy works alongside your medical care, never instead of it.
Test yourself
What research says
- Strong evidence
Nerve damage in the limbs usually starts in the feet and moves upward, in a 'stocking' pattern. Diabetes is a major cause: about half of people with long-standing diabetes develop it.
No clinical trial of Neurotherapy for leg numbness has been published yet. Improvements reported by neurotherapists are clinical observations.
For you
People with diabetes
A numb foot may not feel a cut or blister. Look at your feet, and show any sore to your doctor before it grows.
Older adults
Numb feet upset balance. Keep good light at night and clear floors to prevent falls.
Smokers
Smoking narrows the arteries that feed the legs — and the nerves in them.
This page explains; it does not diagnose. Neurotherapy works alongside your medical care — keep taking the medicines your doctor prescribed, and see a doctor for any new or severe symptom.