Why does my arm/hand fall asleep @ night??!
Question: this is not a joke or a trick question, so please don't take it as such. this has happened too many times 2 me already. last nite, i was lying on my left side and my right arm/hand fell asleep. it was so uncomfortable and scary. it woke me out of my deep sleep.. i sat up in bed and couldn't move it at all. until i started to wiggle my fingers (i had 2 use my left hand 2 wiggle the fingers on the right hand that fell asleep) and then i started to get the feeling back. scary.. why does this happen.??? i wasn't even lying on that side of my body!! please help. thanx 2 all 4 ur advice in advance...
Answers: this is not a joke or a trick question, so please don't take it as such. this has happened too many times 2 me already. last nite, i was lying on my left side and my right arm/hand fell asleep. it was so uncomfortable and scary. it woke me out of my deep sleep.. i sat up in bed and couldn't move it at all. until i started to wiggle my fingers (i had 2 use my left hand 2 wiggle the fingers on the right hand that fell asleep) and then i started to get the feeling back. scary.. why does this happen.??? i wasn't even lying on that side of my body!! please help. thanx 2 all 4 ur advice in advance...
When people describe an appendage as "falling asleep", what is really happening is a compression of a nerve (not circulation, as some people think). Depending on where the nerve is compressed, you can get a feeling of "pins and needles", loss of sensation (feels "numb"), or loss of motor (can't move it). You don't have to be lying on that side to have the nerve compressed (a major nerve coming out of the neck vertebrae could get "pinched" by lying with your head in an awkward position, for example). Often, people who don't move much in their sleep (such as on tranquilizers or using alcohol, or go into deep sleep for extended periods) get more neuropraxia (the medical term for compressed nerve). I would suggest using body pillows for positioning and try not to use any medications.
you are probably cutting off your circulation some how. you may be lying on it while you are sleeping and not realize it. when you lye on it, you are cutting off your blood circulation; blood is not flowing through your arm and to your fingertips; just try not to sleep on it, thats all!