the.com/numbness

The body's polite way of saying it stopped returning your calls.

means A loss of physical sensation or emotional feeling, leaving a part of you unable to register touch, pain, or response.

from Built on 'numb,' which traces to the Middle English 'nome' or 'nomen' — the past participle of the old verb 'nim,' meaning 'to take.' So a numb limb was literally one that had been 'taken,' seized by cold or paralysis. The silent 'b' arrived later, glued on by analogy with words like 'thumb' and 'limb.' Add the suffix '-ness,' which English has long used to spin adjectives into states of being, and you get 'numbness': the condition of having been taken.

nerve signalCompressed nerves can starve the limb into static silence
frostbite allyIt vanishes pain right before tissue actually dies
dentist trickLidocaine blocks sodium channels so signals never fire
emotional versionBrains numb feelings the same way they numb skin
pins and needlesThat tingle is nerves rebooting, not malfunctioning
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