Symptoms Of Leprosy

Leprosy is a disease known since at least Biblical times, when it was thought to be a disease of the unclean. Individuals with this condition were shunned and often forced to live in leper colonies among others with the same disease. There is a saying even sometimes used in modern times, 'to be treated like a leper,' which means to treat someone like a pariah or social outcast. Today, we know leprosy, also called Hansen's disease, is caused by a particular bacteria: Mycobacterium leprae. Leprosy is spread by close contact with infected individuals over a long period and cannot be casually transmitted. Armadillos in the southern part of the United States sometimes carry the mycobacteria, but infection from this source is unlikely. Reveal the leprosy symptoms to be on the watch for now.

Numbness And Feelings Of Pins & Needles

Leprosy tends to affect the cooler areas of the body first, including the skin, fingers, and toes. Patches of discolored skin may appear, and these may be numb to the touch. Leprosy causes nerve damage, which can manifest itself as numbness, intermittent pain, shooting pain, and a feeling of numbness along with tingling sensations. The latter sensation is also called pins and needles, though the clinical term is paresthesia. This is the same sensation someone may feel after sitting on a body part for too long, such as when tucking a leg underneath the buttocks. This pressure can interrupt the normal functioning of the nerve, and when it is released, normal nerve function and feeling resume. This is the sensation of pins and needles. Someone may say their leg or foot went to sleep. In leprosy, however, numbness and the pins and needles feeling are caused by mycobacterial damage to the nerves.

Reveal the next common symptom of leprosy now.

Touch And Temperature Sensations Reduced

Skin sensations are generally felt as pressure, cold, heat, and pain. In someone with leprosy, skin numbness generally appears first. A loss of temperature sensation follows this, then light touch, followed by pain and finally, deep pressure. The dermal nerves are responsible for the transmission of these sensations, and the hands and feet are the most commonly affected. Sensations of deep pressure, heat, and pain help protect the body from serious injury. Damage to the dermal nerves by the leprosy bacteria causes them to malfunction. Someone with leprosy may have touch and temperature sensations reduced to the point they can no longer detect when danger of injury is present. For example, they may incur a severe burn because they couldn't feel their hand was too close to the burner. Deranged nerve function is called neuropathy.

Keep reading to learn about one of the iconic visual symptoms of leprosy now.