The touch diseases they can appear at specific moments and disappear, they can be prolonged in time or they can become chronic problems. Its causes can be of various kinds: from poor body posture, the aftermath of some surgical intervention or trauma, to a serious illness.
Touch is one of the five senses that the human being has, which allows him to have information from the world around him regarding the qualities and characteristics of objects, as well as the perception of certain elements of the environment such as temperature, pressure , etc.
The sense of touch is directly related to the skin, which is the largest organ in our body (since it completely covers it) and is responsible for perceiving, thanks to the multiple nerve receptors it contains, stimuli from the outside world..
This perception is made when these nerve receptors, distributed in the epidermis and dermis of the skin, receive an external signal and send it to the brain, thanks to the connection of the thalamus with the parietal lobe, where the information is processed and forwarded to the skin in the form of heat, cold, pressure, pain, pleasure, etc..
However, this process - like any other in human beings - is susceptible to various kinds of disorders that can cause diseases or disabilities. Below we will describe some of the most common.
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Faced with damage caused or painful stimuli, there is a total absence of discomfort or pain.
The term has to do with the absence of graphosesthesia, which is the ability of the individual to recognize letters or numbers that are written in an imaginary way (or real, but without the individual seeing it) on the skin of any part of the body..
It is related to the absence of stereoognosia, which is the ability to identify objects through touch.
Anafia is the total or partial absence of touch; that is, the inability to perceive any type of sensations through the skin.
Allodynia is an exaggerated perception of pain in the face of stimuli that in normal situations and for the common people are not painful.
It can be static, when the pain is caused by a single, punctual stimulus, such as pressure with a finger, or dynamic, when the pain is caused by a repetitive stimulus..
Hyperesthesia is a hypersensitivity of the skin that causes the sensation of external stimuli, even if it is of low intensity, to intensify to levels that are unpleasant..
Hypoesthesia is the opposite case to the one mentioned recently: sensitivity decreases and the stimulus is perceived weakly.
In this case, the stimulus is not perceived at all.
It is the increased ability to perceive stimuli, an exaggerated sensitivity.
It is the opposite of Hyperaphy, that is, the decrease in the ability to perceive stimuli, a diminished sensitivity.
Hyperalgesia is the exacerbation of pain. That is, stimuli that are generally painful feel even more painful..
On the contrary: stimuli that are generally painful for the average person, are perceived with little pain.
Paresthesia is a tingling sensation in an extremity. It is almost always due to pressure from a nerve, a product of poor body posture or when the elbow is struck with relative force.
Less frequently, it may be due to the intake of some medication. It usually lasts seconds or a few minutes.
Sensitivity disorders can be due to multiple causes: from temporary reasons such as the pinching of a nerve that produces momentary tingling, to infections of the nervous system, burns, allergies, etc..
Nerve entrapment from poor posture, poisonous insect bites, or bacterial infections that can affect nerves or nerve endings.
Nervous irritation from punctures or medical tests. Allergies Side effects from taking certain medications.
Generally the lesions are due to tumors or hernias that step on certain nerves and produce alterations in sensitivity. They are usually resolved with surgical intervention for their removal.
In the case of damage or neurological diseases, the symptoms at the level of touch are secondary consequences of the same, which usually disappear when treated correctly.
More complex diseases such as multiple sclerosis require long-term medical treatment to reduce these types of symptoms..
In situations of neuropathies or cerebral infarction, for example, one of the symptoms that may occur is a momentary disturbance of sensitivity.
In this case, attention must be immediate to solve the cause of the problem and minimize the risk of sequelae..
Burns cause severe damage to the epidermis and, depending on the severity, they can also penetrate the dermis, modifying the entire structure of the nerve endings, and can cause temporary or more or less permanent disorders in the area..
The same can happen in areas of scars produced by cuts or surgeries, where sensitivity tends to be modified for long periods of time or permanently..
Multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's can lead to sensitivity disorders.
Anemias, arteriosclerosis, peripheral artery disease, and even diabetes can lead to touch disorders.
Certain mood disorders or pathologies such as phobias, panic attacks, etc., could cause this type of disorder.
In addition to diseases that directly affect tactile ability, there are other pathologies that affect the skin and that can also hinder or modify the sensitivity and normal performance of the capacities of this sensory organ.
Skin disease caused by mites that burrow under the skin and deposit their eggs there, causing a lot of itching and red dots or lines on the skin.
It is highly contagious, especially by direct contact of infected skin with healthy skin. There is a belief that mange is transmitted by animals; however, they have another type of scabies that does not infect humans.
It is a chronic skin disease in which scaly spots and pustules of a certain thickness and of an intense red or purple color appear..
It mainly appears on the elbows, knees, chest and scalp, and can spread to other areas of the body.
Skin allergy manifested by the appearance of hives or spots that become inflamed and itchy.
It is the natural reaction of the body to the exposure of an antigen, either by contact, inhalation or ingestion.
Inflammation of the dermis manifested by redness, drainage and / or peeling of the skin.
Infection of the skin caused by microscopic fungi. They affect different areas of the skin and there are different types of fungi, taking different names according to each case: ringworm, pityriasis, candidiasis, onychomycosis, etc..
It is a chronic and contagious disease, produced by a bacterium that mainly affects the skin and the nerves of the feet and hands; in some cases it also affects the skin that lines the nose.
It produces nodules and lesions of a certain magnitude. This disease is practically eradicated in most developed countries. It takes many years to manifest and as many years to heal.
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