Why do my fingers become numb when I'm aroused?

Dear Worried, 

The numbness in your fingers and lips might just be how your body gets excited during sexual arousal. Overall, temporary numbness is common and usually harmless. In fact, changes in your muscles during sexual arousal might explain your experience. However, if it’s long-lasting and interfering with your daily life, you may want to visit a health care provider to check for any underlying health issues. 

Why does numbness occur? 

Numbness may come with other sensations, such as tingling, itching, stinging, and skin-crawling. These sensations are also known together as paresthesia. Paresthesia can be temporary or chronic. Bumping some parts of your body into hard objects might also stimulate a nerve and cause such sensations. Some health conditions can cause temporary paresthesia as well, including: 

• Dehydration
• Migraines
• Hyperventilation
• Nerve compression syndromes
• Formication (feeling like bugs are crawling in or on your skin)
• Panic attacks
• Raynaud’s syndrome
• Whiplash
• Seizures 

List adapted from Cleveland Clinic 

How might numbness occur during sexual arousal? 

You may experience numbness during sexual arousal because of the muscle tightening and spasms that occur during the sexual response cycle. This cycle includes excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution. Your muscles may tighten during excitement and tense more during the plateau. This could also result in you experiencing muscle spasms in your hands, face, and feet. At the orgasm stage, muscle contractions can continue, and many people actually experience spasm in their feet. Therefore, it’s normal for the muscles in your hands and face to feel more tense across different stages of sexual arousal, which might result in feeling numb in these areas. 

When is numbness a serious concern? 

If numbness sensations are persistent, visiting a health care provider might be a wise step. This includes numbness that occurs consistently in the same body part(s), coincides with other symptoms, and that troubles you in your everyday life. This can suggest more serious medical concerns, such as issues with circulation, nervous system, metabolism, and immune system. A health care provider can help assess what may be happening and recommend treatment, if necessary. 

Sexual arousal feels different for everyone, and numbness in your fingers and lips might be a unique way that your body reacts when aroused. However, it’s still important to seek medical attention if these sensations are persistent, occur regularly, or disrupt your daily life.