A tingling may be felt on the entire face, although at times it may be experienced only on certain areas or just one side of the face. Some people say that it’s an uncomfortable experience, while others confirm that it’s just simply annoying. This article will discuss some of the most common causes of tingling in the facial area.
Before we proceed, it’s important to note that you should step foot inside a doctor’s office if the tingling you are experiencing persists or worsens, or is accompanied by all kinds of unusual symptoms. A doctor can help identify the cause of the problem by taking your medical history, making a physical assessment and sometimes requesting certain laboratory exams and imaging tests.
Stress
One of the unfavorable things that can arise from stress is muscle tension and an increase in the levels of stress hormones. These things can certainly cause an assortment of strange physical sensations to come into being, and that includes tingling in the face. If the said symptom goes away after you partake in stress-relieving activities such as having a full-body massage or doing yoga, then it’s safe to assume that the tingling you have in your face is just due to a really stressful day.
Anxiety
Just like stress, anxiety is known to cause a host of odd symptoms to show up. Some of them such as chest tightness, a chocking sensation, heart palpitations and feeling like one is about to pass out can be quite scary as well. It’s not uncommon for someone who is having an anxiety attack to also feel like his or her face is tingling. The same sensation may also be felt in the extremities, especially in the hands and feet.
Migraine Headaches
If you’re prone to having migraine headaches, then you are also susceptible to encountering tingling in your face. A lot of people who suffer from migraine headaches report such very unusual symptom. It can happen not only during a bout of migraine headache, but also before or after an episode of it. The tingling sensation may be confined on the side of the face that is affected by migraine headache.
Nerve Damage
There is a medical condition that is characterized by injury or damage to the nerves, and it’s referred to as neuropathy by doctors. Nerves all over the body can be affected, and the ones in your face are included. A tingling sensation is one of the hallmark signs of neuropathy. So many different issues can cause neuropathy to come into being. Some very common examples are trauma, tumors, shingles, lyme disease, hepatitis C, lupus and diabetes.
Smoking
It’s no secret that a lot of serious health-related concerns can stem from smoking. If you are a smoker, it’s not uncommon for you to experience facial tingling every now and then. Toxins introduced into your body can impair blood circulation, and such can affect the facial area. And by the way, smoking can also cause nerve damage which, just like what’s discussed above, is one of the culprits behind tingling in the face.
Multiple Sclerosis
Have you heard about multiple sclerosis or MS? Well, it’s a chronic and usually progressive disease in which the immune system attacks the protective covering of the nerves cells. There are many different symptoms that MS can bring, and one of those that tend to show up at the onset of the disease is tingling in the face and the rest of the body. There’s no known cure for MS, although there are medications and treatments that can help in its management.
