Causes

Numbness in hands is generally caused by damage, irritation or pressing of one of the nerves or a branch of one of the nerves in your arm and wrist.

Diseases affecting the peripheral nerves, like diabetes, also might cause numbness, however with diabetes similar symptoms generally happen first in your feet.

Rarely, numbness might be caused by problems in your brain or spinal cord, however in such cases arm or hand weakness or loss of function also happens. Numbness alone is not generally related with potentially life-threatening diseases or disorders, like strokes or tumors.

Your primary care physician will need detailed information about your symptoms to detect the cause of your numbness. A variety of tests might be required to confirm the cause before appropriate treatment could start.

Possible causes of numbness in one or both of your hands involves:

Brain and nervous system conditions

• Cervical spondylosis
• Guillain-Barre syndrome
• Paraneoplastic syndromes of the nervous system
• Peripheral neuropathy
• Spinal cord injury
• Stroke

Trauma or overuse injuries

• Brachial plexus injury
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Cubital tunnel syndrome
• Frostbite

Chronic conditions

• Alcohol use disorder
• Amyloidosis (build-up of abnormal proteins in your organs)
• Diabetes
• Multiple sclerosis
• Raynaud's disease
• Sjogren's syndrome

Infectious diseases

• Lyme disease
• Syphilis

Treatment side effects

• Side effects of chemotherapy or HIV drugs

Other causes

• Ganglion cyst
• Vasculitis
• Vitamin B-12 deficiency