Causes
Numbness of the throat or tongue occurs most often against the background of general malaise, and can be a symptom that appears due to:
- injuries;
- viral or bacterial infections;
- problems with the spine, especially the cervical spine;
- neurological disorders;
- eating spicy food;
- allergies;
- problems with the cardiovascular system;
- stroke;
- cancer of the larynx;
- lack of iron and vitamin B12 in the body.
If there is numbness in the throat, the reasons for this sensation may vary. This symptom can occur as one of the indicators of angina - an infectious disease that affects the throat and is most often caused by bacteria. That is why, when your throat hurts, you should immediately consult a doctor.
Important! According to statistics, most often numbness in the oral cavity and pharynx is caused by various types of injuries or appears against the background of colds.
A cold primarily affects the organs of the nasopharynx, making the throat feel numb. If you bite any area of the tongue, then it will not only hurt, but may also lose sensitivity and numb for a short period of time. The same happens in the case of various diseases of the throat. The symptom that has arisen in this case does not require special treatment, and therapy should be aimed at eliminating the causes that caused the pathology.
Neurological disorders, stress, lack of sleep can also contribute to numbness in the throat. In this case, an unpleasant symptom may appear periodically, coinciding with an increase in mental stress, or it may be present all the time. In this case, you should drink some warm water, do a light massage of the cervical vertebra. If these methods do not allow you to quickly solve the problem, you need to contact a neurologist.
After a strong emotional shock, even in the absence of inflammatory processes, it can 
there is a feeling of tightness in the throat, a feeling of a coma, as well as numbness.
Foods that contain a lot of hot spices can also trigger numbness. In this case, even a few glasses of water drunk does not guarantee the patient relief from the condition and the complete disappearance of the feeling of numbness of the tongue and throat.
If numbness in the throat occurs periodically, the causes may be allergic. In this case, the symptoms appear unexpectedly, often accompanied by a rash on the body, itching, redness.
Important! Often, individual intolerance to various foods, additives, drugs causes allergies, a symptom of which is numbness of the tongue and throat.
Among the more serious pathologies, when the throat hurts and the larynx grows numb, chronic diseases of the cardiovascular system, stroke, and cancers can be distinguished. The diagnosis of vegetative-vascular dystonia is also often made for patients who visit doctors with complaints that the throat is a little sore or numb. It is possible to identify the cause of the onset of the disease based on the accompanying symptoms. So, with a stroke, numbness will be accompanied by fainting, headaches, nausea, heart rhythm problems. A swelling in the throat not only causes numbness, but also a feeling of tightness in the throat, which can make the throat very sore, making it difficult to swallow food.
Anemia (iron deficiency), as well as a lack of vitamin B12, most often causes throat and tongue numbness in pregnant women after the fifteenth week of pregnancy. In this case, it is necessary to check the functioning of the thyroid gland, having passed the appropriate tests, and also to adjust the diet. It will be useful to start taking the appropriate vitamins.
Treatment
Throat numbness can occur for various reasons. Depending on what caused the unpleasant symptom, appropriate treatment will be prescribed. In this case, as in the elimination of any concomitant symptom, treatment should first of all be directed to the root cause of the disease.
- Infectious diseases that cause inflammation of the nasopharynx are treated according to their cause. So, bacterial infections require immediate antibiotic therapy to avoid more serious complications.
Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, dislocation of the vertebrae and other diseases of the spine can cause numbness in the throat. In this case, it is necessary to carry out a thorough diagnosis of the ridge using an X-ray and examination by a surgeon. Massage, manual therapy methods, and special medications are used as treatment.- If the throat becomes numb due to various neurological disorders, then in this case the psychotherapist will advise to eliminate the cause of the nervous disorders, and prescribe medication using sedatives and antidepressants. Only a complete release of nervous tension will help eliminate the unpleasant sensations of numbness in the pharynx.
- The intensity of the symptom of numbness in the oral cavity after eating excessively spicy food can be reduced by drinking a glass of warm milk. In this case, most often no additional treatment is required. However, in the future, in order to avoid more serious consequences, it is better to avoid food that is too spicy.
- Food allergies often cause not only numbness in the throat or tongue, but can also cause swelling of the larynx. Therefore, in the event of the first symptoms of numbness, any antiallergic agent should be used. Also, if a person knows that he has an individual intolerance to any product or substance, it is necessary to exclude them from his diet.
- Normalization of blood pressure, stabilization of the heart rate are the main methods of first aid for throat numbness, which is associated with pathologies of the cardiovascular system.
Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine, dislocation of the vertebrae and other diseases of the spine can cause numbness in the throat. In this case, it is necessary to carry out a thorough diagnosis of the ridge using an X-ray and examination by a surgeon. Massage, manual therapy methods, and special medications are used as treatment.At the first signs of throat numbness, when the cause is not yet clear, you can provide the patient with first aid. To alleviate the symptom and reduce its intensity, it is necessary:
- stay calm, don't panic;
- drink warm water or herbal decoction, for example, brew mint, St. John's wort, motherwort;
- rinse your throat with a concentrated soda solution (2-4 teaspoons of baking soda in a glass of water), especially if your throat hurts with numbness.
If the numbness persists several hours after the onset, and the above procedures do not improve the patient's condition, you should immediately consult a doctor to determine the cause of the disease and prescribe an effective treatment.
