Numbness in the fingers is a common clinical symptom, and often patients with numbness in the fingers are mistaken for cervical spondylosis in the outpatient clinic. In fact, there are more common causes of finger numbness, but in many cases, the cause of finger numbness is not cervical spondylosis. Here are a few common causes of finger numbness: For the elderly, the most common disease that causes hand numbness is cervical spondylosis. When people enter middle age, some organs tend to degenerative changes, when the cervical intervertebral disc degenerative later, often leading to cervical disc protrusion or cervical vertebral body or joint synapse hyperplasia or hypertrophy (commonly known as osteophytes), these protruding cervical intervertebral disc or osteophytes once the adjacent cervical nerve root, sympathetic nerve, spinal cord or blood vessels, there will be cervical spondylosis, causing numbness of the fingers, and even dizziness, weakness of the limbs, walking limp, and urinary and fecal disorders occur. In cervical spondylosis with nerve root compression (called nerve root type cervical spondylosis), in addition to numbness and abnormal sensation in the fingers, there are other symptoms, such as soreness in the bones of the neck and shoulders, radiating pain in the upper limbs or movement disorders. It is not difficult to confirm the diagnosis of cervical spondylosis, as most patients can establish the diagnosis by taking an X-ray, but sometimes an MRI is required. There is also a simple way to check cervical spondylosis: one person holds the affected head, one hand holds the affected upper limb and extends it by 90°, and both hands push and pull in the opposite direction at the same time, and the diagnosis of cervical spondylosis can be initially confirmed if there is radiating pain or numbness. For the numbness and pain of the thumb, index and middle finger, there is often a history of numbness and waking up at night, and the activity (shaking the wrist) can be improved or completely relieved after waking up; serious cases can be accompanied by hand muscle atrophy, affecting the fine movements of the hand, which is due to the compression of the median nerve in the wrist, the so-called “carpal tunnel syndrome”; if the numbness and pain of the ring and little finger, there is also a history of numbness and waking up at night. If the numbness and pain of the ring and little finger, there may be a history of nocturnal numbness and awakening, serious cases are accompanied by muscle atrophy, and the flexion force of the ring and little finger decreases, affecting the fine use. This is due to the nerve compression in the elbow, which is called “elbow canal syndrome” (ulnar nerve compression sign). Another common cause is thoracic outlet syndrome, which is difficult for lay people to understand and involves anatomy. In layman’s terms, it is caused by anatomical factors such as ligaments, bones, and muscles on both sides of the neck or compression of the subclavian vessels and brachial plexus nerve on one side of the neck. Clinical observation shows that people who frequently lift and carry heavy objects can cause hypertrophy of the shoulder girdle muscles and ligaments, which can cause compression symptoms of the neurovascular bundle, such as abnormal sensation, wood, numbness, and pain on the inner side of the arm. Workers who frequently over-extend their upper extremities or certain sports players, workers who are in a long-term position with their shoulders extended forward, elderly people and middle-aged people with hunched backs are prone to develop symptoms of thoracic outlet syndrome. Normal movements of the upper extremities such as abduction of the upper arms, backward sagging of the shoulders, extension of the neck, turning of the face to the opposite side, and deep inhalation cause an increase in the degree of nerve and vascular compression resulting in increased symptoms. The diagnosis of the disease is difficult, although there are many methods of examination, but it mainly relies on the specialist’s knowledge of the disease, detailed medical history and comprehensive examination to arrive at a comprehensive judgment. Another common disease that causes hand numbness is cerebrovascular disease, known as stroke in Chinese medicine. For middle-aged people over 40 years old, if they often have headaches, dizziness, light-headedness, numbness of the limbs, swelling of the tongue and other symptoms, and if they usually have hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, cerebral arteriosclerosis and other diseases, they should pay more attention and be alert to the occurrence of stroke. Women entering menopause sometimes have numbness in their hands (often bilateral at the same time), but it is not obvious and disappears with the end of menopause; sometimes it is possible to relieve the symptoms by treating them according to menopausal syndrome or giving anti-rheumatic drugs and vitamin B complex. Clinical patients suffering from peripheral neuritis can also cause numbness in the fingers, which is characterized by numbness in both hands and a glove-like symmetrical distribution of both hands. In conclusion, the diagnosis of hand numbness requires a visit to an orthopedic specialist, who needs to refer to cervical spine X-rays, magnetic resonance imaging, electromyography and other ancillary tests to make a definitive conclusion. Once diagnosed, if the symptoms are still light, then by regular non-surgical treatment, can have different degrees of improvement, if the symptoms are obvious, and the appearance of the inner hand muscle atrophy, should promptly take surgical treatment to stop the development of the disease, so as not to cause irreversible and serious atrophy of the inner hand muscle, resulting in serious hand dysfunction.