The question, “What causes finger numbness?” has several answers. Finger numbness by itself can be due to one of several things. But if the numbness is combined with other symptoms like pain or tingling, we can narrow the cause to a handful of possible disorders.

Any numbness you feel is a problem with your nerve. That problem is called neuropathy. And the abnormal feelings it produces are known as paresthesia.

Essentially, paresthesia is an unusual feeling you get on the skin with nothing seemingly causing it. Numbness is just one of those feelings. It could also feel like burning, pain, tingling, itching, prickling, etc.

Any of these paresthesia sensations can occur only once (“transient”) or they can be long lasting ("chronic”). Usually, chronic finger numbness has a more serious underling cause. Chronic numbness in the fingers can be due to any of the following conditions - which are described in detail below:

• Overuse injury
• Peripheral neuropathy
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Cubital tunnel syndrome
• Tendonitis
• Raynaud's phenomenon
• Dupuytren's contraction
• Ganglion cyst or tumor
• Scleroderma
• Complex Regional Pain Syndrome
  

Overuse injuries are the most common causes of finger numbness and pain. They occur by repetitively and forcefully moving your fingers or holding them in an awkward position. The result is simple stress on the tendons and muscles at or near a particular joint.

It’s common for numbness, pain or tingling to radiate out from the affected area. That means if you overwork your hands by, say, using a screwdriver, then pain or numbness can be felt at the fingertips or elbow.

Typically, occupations causing overuse injury include:

• typing or using a mouse
• playing video games
• playing guitar
• using hand tools
• hairdressing & hair styling
• knitting & sewing
• fine art activities
• horseback riding

Treating overuse injuries is relatively simple. Rest and avoidance are the most common recommendations by doctors. Other measures like using ice or heat, stretching exercises and massage can also help.

Peripheral neuropathy refers to a number of disorders where the result is damage to part of the peripheral nervous system. Those are the nerves running through the limbs and skin. 

In the fingers and hand, these nerves carry signals between the hand and the brain. The signals include, pain, temperature, vibration, fine touch, heat, etc. from the skin.

Many of the conditions listed in this article are actually different types of peripheral neuropathy. That’s why neuropathies are usually classified according to the problems they cause (e.g., carpal tunnel syndrome, cubital tunnel syndrome). Neuropathies are also classified by how extensively the nerves are damaged (i.e., mononeuropathy and polyneuropathy).

At its source, neuropathy means nerves are injured or damaged. Nerve damage is what causes finger numbness, pain, tingling, burning, soreness, itching – and a whole host of other sensations.

Neuropathies are either acquired, hereditary or of unknown origin. The most common are the acquired neuropathies. They can have an environmental cause such as trauma, toxins, illness, or infection. The most commonly known causes of acquired neuropathies are:

• diabetes
• inherited diseases
• alcoholism
• poor nutrition or vitamin deficiency
• cancer and chemotherapy
• abnormal immune response
• some medications
• thyroid or kidney disease
• Infections (herpes, Lyme disease, AIDS)

Neuropathy treatments depend on the type of nerve damage, the location, and which symptoms you have. Addressing and targeting the cause often results in the neuropathy resolving by itself.

Sometimes a combination of therapies is most effective. These include:

• pain medicines
• transcutaneous electronic nerve stimulation (TENS)
• casts or splints
• chiropractic
• acupuncture
• massage
• meditation
• yoga

Carpal tunnel syndrome happens because of neuropathy of the median nerve. This nerve runs from the arm to the hand. It passes through a narrow space in the wrist called the carpal tunnel (hence the name of the disorder).

Travelling right next to the nerve, flexor tendons also run from the arm to the hand. And that’s the problem. When these tendons swell, as from over-work or stress, they push on the median nerve and compress it. Eventually, more swelling means the nerve gets crushed.

In carpal tunnel syndrome, this nerve crushing is what causes finger numbness and pain. It occurs in all of the fingers except the little finger. But you can have other symptoms as well. You may experience pain and tingling (pins and needles) in the fingers and hand. Weakness and loss of grip strength usually accompany these symptoms.

You can treat carpal tunnel syndrome with nonsurgical therapies. The most common are exercises, night bracing, and myofascial massage.

Surgery (called carpal tunnel release surgery)  is also used to treat symptoms. Both nonsurgical and surgical results are most successful when the condition is mild or moderate. But treating severe carpal tunnel syndrome can be more challenging.

This disorder is similar to carpal tunnel syndrome (above). In cubital tunnel syndrome, the ulnar nerve has the neuropathy and subsequently causes paresthesia.

The ulnar nerve runs from your shoulder to your hand. On its way, it passes through another narrow space at the elbow. This is called the cubital tunnel (hence the name of this disorder). 

As the cubital tunnel swells, it traps and compresses the ulnar nerve. More swelling means more nerve compression. That compression is what causes finger numbness, particularly in the ring and little fingers. As with carpal tunnel syndrome, you can also feel pain, tingling, and weakness in the ring and little fingers.

Treating cubital tunnel syndrome starts with nonsurgical remedies. Chief among them is massaging the inner elbow area. However, it it’s severe, then usually surgery may be required to decompress the ulnar nerve.

Tendinitis occurs when tendons inflame and swell. Usually it happens near a joint, which is why the hand and fingers are often affected.

You can get tendonitis by accident or injury, as well as simply by over-working a joint. Symptoms can occur anywhere along the tendon where there’s inflammation and swelling. This swelling is what causes finger numbness, pain, and tingling.

The location of the tendon swelling defines the name of the tendonitis. For instance:

• Tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis) is tendon inflammation at the back side of the forearm and elbow joint.

• Golfer's or baseball elbow (medial epicondylitis) is what causes numbness and pain anywhere from the wrist to the elbow on the forearm’s palm side.

• Rotator cuff tendonitis (biceps tendonitis) occurs at the shoulder. Symptoms occur due to inflammation of tendons around the shoulder capsule.

• Trigger finger is when the covering (sheath) of a finger tendon inflames. As a result, the tendon doesn’t glide smoothly. That means you can’t flex or extend the finger. Most times you feel the finger lock up, then suddenly releases like a trigger.

Treating tendonitis is relatively easy. Usually simple rest and occasional massage will ease the tendon inflammation. It might take 1-2 weeks of care, but symptoms almost always resolve completely.

Raynaud's phenomenon (or disease) occurs as two distinct types: Primary and Secondary. Primary Reynaud’s is not as serious and is usually milder and more manageable. Secondary Raynaud's generally displays more severe symptoms.

A main cause of Secondary Raynaud's is exposure to vibrating power tools (saws, jackhammers, drills, etc.). It produces Vibration White Finger, a variant of Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome (HAVS).

This phenomenon occurs when the small blood vessels in fingers and hands become over-sensitive to the slightest changes in cold temperatures. It results in a “Raynaud's attack”. This is a flare-up, when the fingers change color from white, to blue, to red.

There is no cure for Raynaud's phenomenon. But patients can make changes in their lifestyle to prevent flare-ups. Also, some medications can help reduce symptoms severity. 

Dupuytren's contracture is when the connective tissue between the tendons and skin in the palm abnormally thicken. This causes one or more fingers, when at rest, to be pulled inward toward the palm.

Usually the affected fingers are bent. Patients cannot lay their palm flat on a table. Often, there’s a palpable nodule or lump in the palm.

Dupuytren’s contracture most often causes pain. But it can also be one of the causes of finger numbness, especially in the advance stages.

During the early stages of the disorder, treatment for Dupuytren’s contracture can be as simple as doing finger stretching exercises. But when it’s more advanced, other treatments such as injections of steroid or enzymes are needed to break up the thickened tissues. Needle aponeurotomy and surgery are reserved for the more stubborn cases.

A tumor is any abnormal group of cells in the body. While such cells are usually thought of as cancer, the majority of hand and finger tumors are not cancerous.

The most common tumor of the hand is a ganglion cyst. It grows either on the inner side of the wrist or on top. They are generally filled with fluid.

However, if the cyst is near one of the major nerves to the hand (i.e., median or ulnar nerves) it could cause compression and neuropathy. As a result, it could be what causes finger numbness or tingling.

Usually small ganglion cysts require no treatment because they can resolve by themselves. But if the cyst is large or causing numbness, pain or inhibiting joint movement, other measures are needed.

Immobilizing the joint usually helps because joint movement can make the cyst bigger. If that doesn’t help, your doctor may aspirate the cyst. That means using a needle to drain the fluid inside it. But that doesn’t guarantee the cyst won’t fill up with fluid again. The final treatment is surgery to remove the cyst.

Scleroderma represents a group of related conditions. The usually result in abnormal growth and thickening of connective tissues beneath the skin (also around your internal organs).

Scleroderma can make the skin over the fingers tight and thick. This restricts movement of the fingers and hand.

But you can also have systemic scleroderma. This causes the blood vessels of the hand and fingers to constrict. The resulting diminished blood flow in systemic scleroderma is what causes numbness, tingling and pain.

Scleroderma has no cure. But treatments include blood pressure medicines, steroids, and immunosuppressing agents. These treatments can reduce the symptoms significantly. Moreover, these treatments can also prevent scleroderma from advancing.

Pain is the primary symptom of complex regional pain syndrome. But it also causes finger numbness, tingling, burning, stabbing, and stinging. Often it’s a mixture of these feelings. It can be intermittent or continuous.

The exact cause of complex regional pain syndrome is unknown. But it almost always appears within 1 month after an injury at or near the affected area.

There's no cure for this disorder. But the symptoms can be managed using a combination of medicine, physical therapy, and psychological support.

Nerve damage (called neuropathy) is the root of abnormal sensory feelings in the skin. And it's what causes finger numbness, pain, itching, tingling and other abnormal sensations (called paresthesia). The cause of the nerve damage usually defines what the condition is, like carpal tunnel syndrome or cubital tunnel syndrome.