The Diseases of the touch Can occur at specific times and disappear, can be prolonged over time or become chronic problems.
Their causes can be of diverse nature: from a bad body posture, sequela of some surgical intervention or traumatism, to a serious illness.
Touch is one of the five senses that has the human being, which allows him to have information of the world that surrounds him in terms of the qualities and characteristics of objects, as well as the perception of certain elements of the environment as temperature, pressure , etc.
The sense of touch is directly related to the skin, which is the largest organ of our body (since it totally covers it) and is responsible for perceiving the stimuli of the outside world, thanks to the multiple receptors it contains.
This perception is realized when these nerve receptors, distributed in the epidermis and in the 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 information is processed and forwarded to the skin in the form of heat, cold, pressure, pain, pleasure, etc.
However, this process - like any other human being - is susceptible to suffer from disorders of various kinds that can lead to illness or disability. Here are some of the most common ones.
Major disorders of the sense of touch
Analgesia
In the event of damage or painful stimuli, there is total absence of discomfort or pain.
Aesthetic needle
The term has to do with the absence of graphesthesia, which is the ability of the individual to recognize letters or numbers that are written in an imaginary (or real, but not seen by the individual) on the skin of any part of the body.
Astereognosia
It is related to the absence of stereognosis, which is the ability to identify objects through touch.
Anafia
The anaphase is the total or partial absence of the touch; That is, the inability to perceive any type of sensations through the skin.
Allodynia
The Allodynia Is an exaggerated perception of pain before stimuli that in normal situations and for the common people are not painful.
It can be static, when pain is produced by a unique and punctual stimulus, such as finger pressure, or dynamic, when pain is caused by a repetitive stimulus.
Hyperesthesia
The Hyperesthesia Is a hypersensitivity of the skin that makes the sensation before the external stimulus, even if this one of low intensity, intensifies to levels that are unpleasant.
Hypoaesthesia
The Hypoaesthesia The opposite case to the one mentioned recently: the sensitivity diminishes and the stimulus is perceived in weak form.
Anesthesia
In this case, the stimulus is not perceived at all.
Hiperafia
It is the increase in the capacity to perceive stimuli, an exaggerated sensitivity.
Hyphahaemia
It is the opposite of Hiperaphy, that is, the diminution of the capacity to perceive stimuli, a sensed apocata.
Hyperalgesia
The Hyperalgesia Is the exacerbation of pain. That is, stimuli that are generally painful, feel even more painful.
Hypoalgesia
On the contrary: stimuli that are generally painful for the average person, are perceived with little pain.
Paresthesia
The Paresthesia Is the tingling sensation of some extremity. It is almost always due to the pressure of a nerve, a product of bad body posture or when you hit the elbow with relative force.
Less frequently, it may be due to the intake of some medication. It usually lasts for seconds or minutes.
Causes of Sensory Disorders
Sensitivity disorders can be due to multiple causes: from temporary reasons such as the pinching of a nerve that causes momentary tingling, to infections of the nervous system , Burns, allergies, etc.
Temporary disorders
Imprisonment of nerves by bad postures, poisonous insect bites or bacterial infections that can affect nerves or nerve endings.
Nerve irritation from punctures or medical tests. Allergies. Side effects from the intake of certain medications.
Nerve damage or neurological damage
Usually the lesions are due to tumors or hernias that tread certain nerves and produce alterations in the sensitivity. They are usually resolved with surgical intervention for excision.
In the case of damage or diseases of the neurological type, the symptoms at the level of the touch are secondary consequences of the same, that often disappear when they are treated correctly.
AND More complex diseases such as multiple sclerosis , Require long-term medical treatment to reduce this type of symptoms.
In situations of neuropathies or cerebral stroke , For example, one of the symptoms that may occur is a momentary disorder of sensitivity.
In this case the attention must be immediate to solve the cause of the problem and minimize the risk of sequelae.
Burns and surgeries
Burns cause severe damage to the epidermis and, depending on the severity, can also penetrate the dermis, modifying the entire structure of the nerve endings, which can produce disturbances that are more or less permanent in the area.
The same can happen in areas of scars produced by cuts or surgeries, where the sensitivity is usually modified during prolonged times or permanently.
Neurological diseases
Multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's can lead to sensitivity disorders.
Blood dysfunctions
Anemias, arteriosclerosis, peripheral arterial disease and even diabetes can lead to disorders of the touch.
Psychological dysfunctions
Certain psychic dysfunctions or pathologies such as phobias, panic attacks, etc., could cause this type of disorders.
Other Skin Pathologies
In addition to diseases that directly affect tactile ability, there are other pathologies that affect the skin and may also hinder or modify the sensitivity and normal performance of the sensory organ's capabilities.
Scabies or Scabies
Skin disease caused by mites that enter under the skin and deposit their eggs there, causing a lot of itching and dots or red lines on the skin.
It is highly contagious, especially by direct contact of infected skin with healthy skin. There is a belief that scabies are transmitted by animals; However, these have another type of mange that does not infect the human.
Psoriasis
It is a chronic disease of the skin in which appearing scaly spots and pustules of a certain thickness and intense red or purple color.
It appears mainly in elbows, knees, chest and scalp, being able to extend to other areas of the body.
Urticaria
Skin allergy that manifests with the appearance of hives or spots that become inflamed and itchy.
It is the body's natural reaction to exposure of an antigen, whether by contact, inhalation or ingestion.
Dermatitis
Inflammation of the dermis that manifests itself with redness, suppuration and / or peeling of the skin.
Mycosis
Infection of the skin produced 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.
Leprosy
It is a chronic and contagious disease, produced by a bacterium that mainly affects the skin and the nerves of 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 virtually eradicated in most developed countries. It takes many years to manifest itself and many others to heal.
References
- Sense of touch. Recovered from froac.manizales.unal.edu.co
- Disorders of the sensibility. Recovered from onmeda.es
- Diseases of the touch. Recovered from losincosentitostacto.blogspot.com.ar
- Diseases of the touch. Recovered from clubensayos.com
- Diseases of the touch - sense. Recovered from encyclopediadetareas.net
- Definition of hiperafia. Retrieved from definitions-de.com
- Human scabies (Scabies). Retrieved from msal.gob.ar
- Allodynia. Recovered from psychologyymente.net
- Mycosis. Retrieved from e.wikipedia.org