感觉异常
gǎnjué yìcháng
The English word paresthesia is translated into Chinese as 感觉异常 (gǎnjué yìcháng).
感觉异常 refers to the sensation of burning, prickling, itching or tingling of the skin with no obvious cause. This is the formal medical term used by doctors and in clinical documentation.
Meaning: sensation of burning, prickling, itching, or tingling of the skin with no obvious cause (noun)
What does it mean word for word?
The term is composed of 感觉 (gǎnjué), meaning 'sensation' or 'feeling' and 异常 (yìcháng), meaning 'abnormal' or 'unusual'.
Which one should you use?
麻木感 (mámù gǎn) is a formal term specifically for a numbness sensation, and 麻麻的 (má má de) is an informal expression used to describe feeling 'numb-ish'.
How do you pronounce it?
gǎnjué yìcháng
Did you know?
- While 感觉异常 is the clinical term, patients often use the word 麻 (má), which is the same character used for 'hemp' and 'numbness'. In Chinese culture, the tingling sensation is linguistically linked to the numbing property of the Sichuan peppercorn, called 花椒 (huājiāo).
- In many Chinese dialects, the sensation of 'pins and needles' is often colloquially compared to 'ants crawling' (蚂蚁爬), a vivid metaphor used instead of the formal 感觉异常.
- The character 感 (gǎn) in 感觉 (gǎnjué) is also the root for the word 'emotion' or 'sentiment' in Chinese. This means the language uses the same core concept for both a physical tactile sensation and a deep emotional feeling.
Examples in context
- 您是否有手脚发麻的感觉？Do you have a sensation of numbness in your hands and feet?
- 有时候我在手臂上会有刺痛感。Sometimes I feel a tingling sensation in my arms.
- 他的手指有明显的感觉异常。Tā de shǒuzhǐ yǒu míngxiǎn de gǎnjué yìcháng.He has obvious paresthesia in his fingers.
- 这种感觉异常通常会持续很久。Zhè zhǒng gǎnjué yìcháng tōngcháng huì chíxù hěn jiǔ.This sensation of paresthesia usually lasts a long time.
Example conversation
A patient is describing symptoms to a friend.
- 雨婷 Yuting俊杰，你的手怎么在抖？Jùnjié, nǐ de shǒu zěnme zài dǒu?Junjie, why is your hand shaking?
- 俊杰 Junjie我感觉手上有某种感觉异常。Wǒ gǎnjué shǒushàng yǒu mǒu zhǒng gǎnjué yìcháng.I feel some kind of paresthesia in my hand.
- 雨婷 Yuting是麻木还是在刺痛？Shì mámù háishì zài cìtòng?Is it numbness or a tingling sensation?
- 俊杰 Junjie像是有小针在扎一样。Xiàng shì yǒu xiǎo zhēn zài zhā yīyàng.It feels like small needles are pricking me.
