Tingling, often accompanied by numbness, frequently affects fingers and hands. Tingling results when nerves to the finger and hands become damaged or compressed. Certain medications can also cause nerve dysfunction, called neuropathy. Tingling in the fingers and hands can cause significant disability, making it hard to write, type, pick up and carry objects, or carry out other normal activities.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome is compression of the nerve in the wrist that provides feeling to the palm, thumb, index and middle fingers and the thumb side of the little finger, MedlinePlus explains. Repetitive motion, such as typing on a computer keyboard, is the most common cause of carpal tunnel syndrome. Carpal tunnel affects more women than men, most of them between the ages of 30 and 60. Fine finger motions may be difficult and pain may extend up to the elbow. The hand may feel weak. Anti-inflammatory medications may reduce the swelling around the nerve and improve symptoms. Wearing a splint may help hold the wrist in a position that allows less nerve compression. Surgery to release the nerve is necessary in 50 percent of cases, says MedlinePlus.
Cancer and Cancer Treatments
Many chemotherapy medications commonly used to treat cancer cause tingling and numbness in the extremities, called peripheral neuropathy. Symptoms worsen right after a treatment and may improve slowly once treatment is complete, although some people experience lasting effects. Chemotherapy drugs that cause finger and hand tingling include Ara-C, Carboplatin, Cisplatin, Oncovin and Taxol, among others, according to the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center. Cancers that compress nerves can also cause tingling in the hands and fingers.
Diabetes
Diabetes often causes tingling and numbness in the hands and fingers, as well as other parts of the body. High blood sugar levels impair the nerve's ability to send signals. Around half of all people with diabetes have neuropathy, which is more likely to develop the longer a person has the disease.
Trauma
Trauma, the most common cause of nerve injury, according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, can occur from accidents that compress, crush or sever nerves.
Vascular Disease
Inflammation of blood vessels that leads to scarring and hardening of the vessels can decrease oxygen supply to nerves in the hands and fingers, causing tingling and numbness.
