Why do hands get an itchy/tingly sensation when doing something with high vibrations like weed whacking?
In: Biology
Ok, I’m going to try and remember from my Neuro degree (not a doctor, just really really liked brains) here but if anyone else here has more education on this feel free to chime in. This really is a “three part answer” that involves the circulatory, musculoskeletal and the sensory systems in your body- however after looking around for some research on this through PubMed and my University Library it is highly concluded that the reason this phenomenon (called HAVS) is not fully understood (ironically, just like a whole slew of other shit that we try and study in medicine)
Basically, underneath your skin you have certain types of sensory cells that are called “mechanoreceptors” that lie between certain layers of your skin below the top layer- and are responsible for different types of tactile and touch sensations. They’re directly connected to nerves, and there are four main types of them- all of which are highly sensitive and like all other types of nervous responses in the body- can definitely be overstimulated.
However, over time- overstimulation can definitely deteriorate the types of sensation that these little receptors are meant to feel and can lead to nerve damage due to overstimulation from devices that output a high or strong levels of vibration. Now, on it’s own, the weed whacker has a really high frequency of vibration (how fast it’s vibrating), however, since you’re gripping down tightly on the tool to use it- the vibrations from the weed whacker are being felt by your body- and over time- over stimulating your nervous system- which is not equipped to handle high frequency vibration for long periods of time- and it gets in it’s own way “confused” and goes “WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT FEELING I’M NOT MEANT FOR THIS”.
At the same time (someone mentioned White Finger) you have veins that supply blood to the tissues in your hands, high vibration can definitely fuck around with this (again, because you’re gripping hard onto the tool, on top of the overstimulation) and can lead to loss of oxygen being transported through the blood to your tissues- which also contributes to the pins and needles feeling that you would have as if your leg fell asleep or some shit like that.
So basically it’s your hand/arm muscles being overworked, deprived of oxygen and also overstimulated at the result of high frequency vibration induced by a tool- try using it for less time and take 5 minute breaks in between those periods- and it should happen less frequently I’d guess.
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