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The Causes of Leg Numbness

Leg numbness can be caused by a range of common and rare health conditions, from diabetes to spinal deformities. These conditions may be related to nerves or circulation, or something else like an injury or lifestyle factors.
Nerve-Related Causes
- Peripheral neuropathy
- Herniated disc
“With tingling and numbness below the knees, it can suggest diabetes,” especially if someone hasn’t been to the doctor in years, says Lukasz Jaros, MD, a family medicine physician at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago. In that case, Dr. Jaros says, he’ll order an A1C test to check for diabetes.
A rare but serious cause of leg numbness can be a tumor, infection, or other abnormality that presses on nerves in the spinal cord itself. This may be the case when someone has pain shooting down both legs. “We would potentially be sending them to the emergency room for imaging and potentially a neurosurgical intervention” to prevent permanent spinal nerve damage, says Jaros.
Circulatory Causes
The following blood vessel conditions can cause leg numbness:
- Peripheral arterial disease (PAD)
- Deep vein thrombosis (DVT), a type of blood clot
Systemic Health Conditions
Some relatively rare causes of leg numbness include the following conditions:
- Multiple sclerosis (MS)
- Vitamin deficiencies, especially vitamin B12
Injury and Physical Factors
Certain other physical issues can cause leg numbness, especially:
- Peripheral nerve compression
- Injury or trauma
- Positional nerve compression
Sometimes, the positioning of your body — such as crossing your legs a certain way — can compress nerves and cause temporary numbness. In that case, sensation should return within a few minutes of adjusting your position. “If it happens once or twice, it’s usually not something that needs to be treated,” says Jaros.
Certain Medications
- Heart and blood pressure drugs
- Cancer or chemotherapy drugs
- Certain infection-fighting drugs
- Seizure treatments
- HIV/AIDS treatments
- Arsenic
- Illegal drugs
- Glue sniffing