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Physiotherapy vocabulary · Instructions and Patient Talk

Pins and needles

Meaning in physiotherapy, with examples

idiomCommon term

In physiotherapy, pins and needles means: An everyday expression for a prickling or tingling feeling in the skin, which can be a sign that a nerve is irritated or being pressed on.

In Turkish: karıncalanma, iğnelenme

How it is used

Patients say it far more often than the medical word paraesthesia (US paresthesia). Physiotherapists ask exactly where patients feel pins and needles and whether it is constant, because the pattern helps show which nerve may be involved. It is usually asked about together with numbness.

Example sentences

  1. Do you get any pins and needles or numbness in your hand?

  2. He gets pins and needles in his first two toes when he sits for a long time.

Common collocations

  • get pins and needles
  • pins and needles in the hand
  • numbness and tingling
  • tingling down the arm
  • sciaticaPain that travels from the lower back or buttock down the back of the leg along the path of the sciatic nerve, sometimes with numbness or tingling.
  • subjective assessmentThe first part of a physiotherapy assessment, in which the patient describes their problem, symptoms, history and goals in their own words.
  • herniated discA condition in which the soft inner part of a spinal disc pushes out through its outer layer and may press on a nearby nerve.
  • referred painPain felt in a different part of the body from where the problem actually is, for example hip problems felt in the knee.

More terms: Instructions and Patient Talk

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.