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| Image source: Pixabay.com |
If you’re experiencing tingling, numbness, and burning pain in your outer thigh, it could likely be a case of meralgia paresthetica, which is caused by the compression of the nerve that supplies sensation to the skin surface of the thigh.
There’s a range of common causes for this condition, including tight clothing, pregnancy, and obesity or weight gain. Meralgia paresthetica can also be borne out of local trauma or an existing medical condition, such as diabetes. In most instances, the pain can be relieved using conservative techniques, including wearing looser clothing.
Nerves travel throughout the body, carrying messages to and from the brain. Sensory nerves specifically gather and send signals to the brain about your skin, muscles, as well as other tissues. In meralgia paresthetica, a huge sensory nerve in the outer thigh doesn’t have plenty of room to pass through the hip bone or joints.
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| Image source: Pixabay.com |
Spotting the common symptoms of Meralgia paresthetica is important. Usually, you’ll notice the warning signs on just one side of the body, which may experience pain, tingling, numbness or burning. The affected area could be sensitive to light tough rather than to firm pressure and could have high sensitivity to heat.
The symptoms are likely to be mild at first, but as the condition worsens they might involve sharper, shooting pain. In addition, the pain may go away and return for no apparent reason.
Victoria Mondloch, M.D., is a practicing physician who has more than two decades of experience in the fields of family medicine, women’s health, and preventive health and wellness. More on Dr. Mondloch here.
