Tingling or numbness

Tingling is the prickling, buzzing feeling of pins and needles. Numbness is the opposite: less feeling than there should be. Some women describe a third thing, a crawling or itching feeling under the skin, as if something were moving there.

This is a recognition page, so here is where the evidence stands. The NHS and the Pakistan Menopause Society's 2026 recommendations do not list tingling or numbness among the symptoms of the menopause. A standard menopause symptom questionnaire does count it. The Greene Climacteric Scale, published by J.G. Greene in 1998, has one item for parts of the body feeling numb or tingling and another for loss of feeling in the hands or feet. Both sit in its group of physical symptoms, beside headaches and muscle and joint pains.

That is why Roshara's symptom score includes it. Being on a scale is not the same as a guideline naming it, though, so the causes below are worth ruling out first.

• pins and needles in the fingers or toes that take a long time to fade
• hands that go numb at night and wake you
• a patch of skin that feels dull to the touch
• a crawling or prickling feeling under the skin, sometimes with itching
• feet that feel as if you are walking on cotton wool

In Urdu, sansanahat is the tingle and sunn hona is the numbness. The crawling feeling has its own phrase on the score: jild ke neeche kuch rengta mehsoos hona.

No guideline explains a menopause cause for tingling or numbness, and we will not guess at one. What the NHS does set out is the list of other causes, and this is the useful part.

The NHS pins and needles page links pins and needles, pain or numbness in the hands and feet with diabetes. It lists Raynaud's when fingers or toes change colour, breathing too fast when it comes with trembling hands, sciatica when it travels down the leg, and multiple sclerosis. Longer-lasting pins and needles can also come from some medicines, a poor diet, a trapped nerve in the back or neck, nerve damage, or drinking too much alcohol.

Diabetes deserves a second look here. The British Menopause Society notes higher rates of insulin resistance and diabetes among South Asian women during the menopause transition. If tingling in your hands or feet is new, it is a fair question whether your blood sugar should be checked. Diabetes risk has more.

If worry or panic comes with the tingling, anxiety is a listed menopause symptom with its own page.

The NHS says to see a GP if you have pins and needles all the time or it keeps coming back. Bring the details: where it is, when it happens, how long it lasts, and anything that comes with it, such as colour changes, pain or weakness.

Numbness on one side can be a sign of a stroke. The NHS stroke page lists sudden weakness or numbness in one arm or down one side of the body, a drooping face, and slurred or confused speech. If numbness comes on suddenly with any of these, get emergency help at once, even if it passes.

Wudu several times a day means you handle your hands and feet more than most, so you may notice a change there first. A foot that goes to sleep while you sit in tashahhud is the ordinary kind: the NHS says pins and needles from sitting or lying on part of the body usually passes within a few minutes. What is worth writing down is tingling that comes for no reason, or will not go.

In many families diabetes is so common it barely gets mentioned. That is a reason to mention it to your doctor, not a reason to stay quiet. If parents or siblings have it, say so.