What happens to you is called paresthesia, which is nothing more than a feeling of numbness or tingling in some part of the body that can lead to loss of sensitivity. Do you want to know what causes it, why does it usually occur when you are in the toilet for a long time or if you need to worry? Here it is.
What Causes Paresthesia?
- The causes can be multiple, although the most common reason is something as banal as that a nerve is compressed between two surfaces as when we have had one leg crossed over another for a long time or we have been sitting on one leg.
- It can occur in any area of the body, everything will depend on the point of the nervous system that is pressed, although the most common is that it appears on the legs, feet, arms and hands.
- The most advisable thing when it happens is that, as soon as we notice the first discomfort, we change position or move the affected part so that it does not go to more. But if the tickling has already appeared, simply remove the pressure so that, after a short time, sensitivity returns. To speed up the process we can do a gentle stretching, give ourselves a massage or mobilize the affected limb, for example, by walking a bit.
Why do your legs go to sleep when you are on the toilet a lot?
Feeling a sensation of numbness in the legs after sitting for several minutes on the toilet is quite common and should not worry us.
- As Alberto Freire, head of Neurology at the Spanish Society of General and Family Physicians (SEMG) explains , the numbness of the legs is produced by the compression of the nerves that leave the lower part of the spine by the rigid seat from the toilet.
- Added to this is the fact that the toilet seat has a hole in the center. This causes pressure to concentrate between the area between the bottom of the buttocks and where the back of the thighs begins. If this pressure situation continues for a long time, that is when the tingling sensation appears.
- This does not happen when sitting in a chair or any other entire seat (that is, one that does not have a hole like the toilet seat) since the pressure is distributed over the entire surface of the buttocks.
Eliminate tingling
- To regain mobility and sensitivity in your legs after sitting on the toilet, you just have to stretch your legs slowly and walk a little. In general, in a couple of minutes the tingling will be completely gone.
In principle you do not have to be alarmed. As we have mentioned, the feeling of numbness disappears on its own after a few minutes after eliminating the circumstance that was causing the pressure on the nerves.
- Alert. If the numbness does not disappear after an hour, it may be thought that there is a more serious underlying problem. This can range from a cervical impingement, sciatica or a herniated disc (discover things that you may be doing wrong with your back). Or also due to other diseases such as diabetes or multiple sclerosis. So, it is necessary to consult with a doctor.
And find out why your hand or foot falls asleep if it is those extremities where you have tingles or are numb.
