Sleeping on my arm?!


Question: I not overweight and sleep on my side - both right and left - but often wake in the morning having slept on my arm and find my hand is numb and wrist is painful. The numbness goes after a few minutes but the wrist pain remains.

I've tried sleeping on my back, but always end up during the night in my natural sleeping position of my side.

Any ideas how I can prevent this?


Answers: I not overweight and sleep on my side - both right and left - but often wake in the morning having slept on my arm and find my hand is numb and wrist is painful. The numbness goes after a few minutes but the wrist pain remains.

I've tried sleeping on my back, but always end up during the night in my natural sleeping position of my side.

Any ideas how I can prevent this?

Try sleeping on your stomach.

fall asleep on your side but have your arm behind you if that make sense

i do the same thing and it hurts

The problem is caused by taking too much of your weight on your upper arm. Get the right sized pillow for sleeping on your side.

the same thing happens to me!!! but i feel like my hands are numb and swollen for about two hours after i wake up..
so ive been trying to sleep on my face with my hands over my head under the pillow it working slowly but i think its like retraining yourself it could take awhile..

I do this same thing too. My wrist feels tingly and my fingers numb. I think it would be bad for me, maybe like a clot could form. They dont use tournicate for long periods of time anymore because they found it could cause clots.

It sounds like you are sleeping on your arm and putting pressure on the nerves. You are getting the same thing in your arm and hand that you get when your foot "falls asleep". The wrist pain may or may not be related.

I don't know how you can train yourself to not sleep on your side, but I can suggest that you to see your doctor for the wrist pain. It probably isn't anything sinister but it is obviously uncomfortable and you need to find out if there is anything there - arthritis etc.

it is your habbit try to change it and take help of your people whostay with you

I had the same thing happen to me except the pain was in my shoulder. I tried to arrange my pillows to keep me from putting that weight on that shoulder. I fell asleep after using a larger pillow. I went to sleep for about 4 hours and awoke with no feeling in my hand or wrist.

I went to the emergency room and they called it Saturday night Palsy because it is common in drunks that fall asleep on a bus stop or park bench with their arm hanging over the back of the bench and thus pinching the nerve*. My hand was drawn up and I had no control or feeling. It took 4 months to get full usage of my hand back. So be careful what you do and don't make the same mistake I did.

The Saturday Night Palsy web page below will help explain the pain you are having.

Try bending your arm and tucking your hand under your pillow in front of your head (almost as if you were going to lie your head in your hand but your hand is in front of your head instead). It makes your body and head feel supported, but keeps your arm out of the way of your body if that makes sense.

I'm a massage therapist and simple things like this can help people sleep a lot more comfortably.





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