Why do my hands go numb at night while sleeping?

When to visit a doctor

When your hand becomes numb due to an uncomfortable position and this happens infrequently, then there is no need to worry. An uncomfortable position during sleep leads to pressure on blood vessels and nerves, resulting in a numb hand. As a rule, in such cases there is no need to go to the clinic, however, you should start to worry if this happens every night; a stiff arm interferes with sleep and causes painful discomfort.

Clinical manifestations will help the doctor make a correct diagnosis; several conditions can be identified:

• hands go numb at any time of the day;
• right hand goes numb;
• left hand goes numb;
• both hands become numb;
• numbness lasts a long time and brings significant discomfort;
• hands suddenly become numb, with additional deterioration of vision and mental disorders.

You should pay close attention to your condition and consult a doctor, because only he can find out why your hands become numb in your sleep; the reasons can be completely different:

If your hands are numb

Lately, more and more patients have been appearing in my office who are worried about one single symptom: at night they have to wake up several times due to numbness in their hands. The unpleasant sensations that accompany these phenomena are all described in a fairly similar way: a sharp awakening from pain in the hand, tingling, burning, “crawling” in combination with stiff fingers.

Usually people blame everything on the pillow (and change it more than once), the peculiarities of the posture during sleep (and they come up with various “limiters” so as not to turn on their side or on their stomach), “weak heart” (and they buy unnecessary medications in order to “ heal")...

In the end, exhausted, they come to a neurologist so that the doctor can find in their body what is interfering with proper rest and eliminate the inconvenience. And the doctor again walks in a vicious circle: pillow-pose-heart. And makes me do gymnastics. And he prescribes a bunch of studies that will take a lot of time. Couldn't it be faster? No you can not!

Where does such a misfortune come from?

If earlier such complaints were more often made by people whose professional activities were associated with sedentary work and straining their hands (computer operators, drivers, assembly line workers), now schoolchildren, students, and retirees also come. After all, computers have entered the lives of almost everyone. And almost everyone, starting from school, is faced with “computer mouse syndrome” (carpal tunnel syndrome), when mechanical compression of the nerves and blood vessels on the wrist regularly occurs, causing numbness in the fingers. Usually, wearing an orthosis and well-planned position of the keyboard and mouse quickly eliminate the problem, but with numbness at night, not everything is so simple.

Of course, most often the cause of numbness is quite banal - in 90% of cases it is compression of the neurovascular bundle along its entire length: from the spinal cord and aorta to the very tips of the fingers. But there are another 10% of cases when disruption of blood circulation and innervation occurs at a more subtle level - when the smallest vessels and nerve endings are damaged.

This ten percent includes diseases such as polyneuropathy and vasculitis. In order to exclude these pathologies, the doctor gives the night sufferer a long list of tests and examinations. These can be simple blood tests (general and biochemical), hormonal tests, electroneuromyography, duplex scanning of blood vessels, rheovasography, electrocardiogram, neuroimaging (x-ray of the neck, shoulder joints, CT and MRI). The doctor decides what to do and to what extent on an individual basis.

— Doctor, is it possible to do it somehow easier and faster?

Well, I’ll tell you what your “faster” usually looks like.

Stupid self-medication

And so we decided to save time and money on tests, because “we definitely feel that there is nothing serious,” and we enthusiastically take on treatment. On the Internet there are a lot of “folk” recommendations on the topic “how to deal with numbness in the hands”, and at the same time “how to get rid of back pain”. This includes sleeping with a potato in your hand, and massaging the joints of your hands and neck in various ways, and also making baths, compresses and rubbing in strong-smelling tinctures (probably to deter illness).

Does all this help? Yes and no. If one of the folk remedies, used in any form, accidentally affects the cause of the disease, then everything is great. But usually, for some reason, it is after somersaults with Internet advice that patients get worse. Maybe there are those who were cured once and for all by anointing parts of their bodies with turpentine, and no longer go to doctors? Alas, I doubt it...

Your own diagnostician

To figure out for yourself whether there is reason for concern or whether you are simply “tracking” your hands in your sleep (and then just change your position), here are a few simple tests.

Try raising your arms above your head and holding them for 30 seconds. Do you feel tingling? Going numb? Dress for the weather - and go to the neurologist. Do your joints hurt? Make an appointment with a rheumatologist. Place the blood pressure cuff on your arm below the elbow. Increase the pressure in the cuff to 130–140 mm Hg. If no unpleasant sensations appear within a minute, then there is no reason to worry. What if they appeared? And does your left hand go numb when you're nervous? Go ahead - to the cardiologist! Do both hands go numb at once when you're nervous? You may need to consult an endocrinologist. Well, what if there are none of the above symptoms? Then search again. Joke..

Tips to help

First, pay attention to sleep hygiene.

Do not smoke or drink alcohol before bedtime. Nicotine and ethyl alcohol promote short-term vasodilation. Their narrowing will be just in time for the sweetest dream and will provide you with an unforgettable night. Also, don't overeat. The body, which is busy digesting food, simply will not notice the catastrophe on the periphery, in the limbs. There is no need to fall into bed immediately after hard physical work or strength training. Any athlete and loader will tell you how, in this case, overworked muscles ache, spasm to the point of cramps, swell and hurt. And how gratefully they respond to relaxing water treatments and light massages! And less water before bed. Patients with diabetes and pregnant women are especially sensitive to this. Swelling of tissues disrupts metabolism in them and causes irritation of nerve endings. And then numbness and convulsions may occur...

Secondly, you should not sleep in one position all night.

Toss and turn! But at the same time, do not put your hands under your head, do not put them under the pillow. Try not to throw your arms and legs over your bedmate at night. If the fair half has the habit of falling asleep on the chest of a loved one, it is worth learning another habit - to crawl away no later than half an hour of being pressed down, no matter how brave the person being pressed is. For those who like to hug someone in their sleep, there are special C-shaped pillows. Try it - it's very convenient!

Thirdly, the pillow should be comfortable

so that your neck does not bend when lying on your side and does not arch when you lie on your back or stomach. By the way, not everyone likes orthopedic pillows. Many people prefer a “forming” pillow, which you want to roll out “into a pancake”, but you want to knock it into a ball. Plus a light blanket and comfortable, non-squeezing and non-restrictive clothing to help you sleep sweetly! But it’s better to remove jewelry - it’s better for both safety and health.

The population's excessive enthusiasm for mattresses that are too hard (“for back health”) is not at all useful and unnecessary. To experiment, let your pet choose soft or hard bedding - and animals know a lot about a good sleep! - and you will immediately understand what I mean.

Well, fourthly, move!

During the day, try to change your working position, twirl your arms, neck, bend and straighten. Do not hold the telephone receiver between your neck and shoulder, either at work or in the car (talking on the phone is also prohibited by traffic rules), or before going to bed, or in bed at night. Move - it revitalizes! If you carry heavy bags on your shoulders, buy those with the widest handles. If your breasts are larger than B, the bra should have straps +1–2 cm wide for each size. If your neck aches in the evenings, you can put on a Shants collar and walk around in it for 1 to 1.5 hours a day for 2 weeks. Massage also helps a lot.

Well, if all these tricks still don’t lead to the desired relief, make an appointment with a doctor. Helps. Verified.

Valentina Saratovskaya

Photo thinkstockphotos.com

Incorrectly selected pillow and uncomfortable sleeping position

In order for the body to fully recover and gain strength during sleep, it is important that the pillow is comfortable, and preferably orthopedic. An incorrect, high pillow forces the spine to unnaturally arch in the neck area, causing your arms to go numb during sleep.

There is a disruption in the blood supply and nutrition of the nerve endings of the cervical spine. In the compressed area, blood circulation weakens, and the limbs, especially the hands, begin to go numb.

It is very important to choose not only a suitable pillow, but also choose a comfortable sleeping position and clothing that does not restrict movement.

All this can lead to numbness in your hands. Despite the fact that this problem is not serious and can be solved very quickly, it still causes inconvenience to a person.

Hands thrown back behind the pillow very often cause numbness. At night, when the body is sleeping, the heart works a little slower than usual, so blood may not flow to the hands in sufficient quantities, especially if a person occupies an unnatural position during sleep.

Symptoms

Paresthesia manifests itself in the form of numbness of the limbs, as well as in the form of various symptoms that can be observed throughout the day. This list includes:

• sensation of “goosebumps” on the skin;
• too cold feet, fingers, toes;
• tingling in the arms and legs that occurs while walking;
• temperature fluctuations, lack of reaction of nerve endings.

In some cases, numbness accompanies a rash in the thighs and knees. Such symptoms complicate making a correct diagnosis.

Vascular diseases as a cause of hand numbness

One of the most dangerous causes of numbness in the hands is ischemic stroke. Normal blood circulation in the brain is disrupted, usually in one area, this leads to numbness in the hands, as well as increased blood pressure and dizziness. As a rule, not only the hand, but also the face can become numb; depending on which side the loss of sensitivity occurs, we can assume which hemisphere is affected.

Spinal problems

Various diseases can manifest as numbness in the hands. Periodic numbness of the limbs, dizziness, and headaches should cause a person to contact a neurologist or osteopath. The cause of leakage can be both osteochondrosis and intervertebral hernia. Osteochondrosis is the collective name for a large complex of diseases of the spine, when a disturbance occurs in the metabolic processes of cartilage and bone tissue.

The progression of the disease leads to the destruction of the vertebrae, the spinal nerves begin to be compressed, and numbness and discomfort occur.

People who lead a passive lifestyle and work constantly at the computer are at risk. This could be office workers or schoolchildren. Few people pay attention to their posture and regularly get up to warm up; as a result, with prolonged exercise of the same type, a spasm occurs in the cervical region, and as a result, numbness of the hands both at night and during the day.

Carpal tunnel syndrome

Frequent overstrain of the tendons of the hand can cause numbness in the hands, so the condition is called carpal tunnel syndrome. People who work at a computer and do a lot of typing, musicians, and seamstresses most often suffer from it.

– people who perform the same type of actions with their hands every day face discomfort during pregnancy.

On the arm you can find a channel through which the tendons pass. Normally they are protected, but when overstrain occurs, the nerve is compressed and the hand goes numb.

Manifestations of this syndrome can be felt just at night.

The condition requires treatment; if this is not done in time, then complete death of the muscle tissue of the thumb is possible. Women are more susceptible to the disease, and, in the absence of proper treatment, over time the finger will lose its sensitivity and the person will not be able to clench a fist.

Other causes of hand numbness

Hands numbness at night may indicate a whole list of diseases:

• diabetes;
• ischemic disease;
• chronic high blood pressure;
• anemia;
• genetic diseases of the nervous system;
• alcohol abuse;
• B vitamin deficiency;
• arthritis.

Why your hands go numb at night during sleep can only be said with certainty after an examination.

Features of treatment

If the patient’s hands have been numb for a long time and the symptoms do not go away or get worse, then it is advisable to consult a neurologist. To correctly determine the causes of paresthesia, high-quality diagnosis is required. First of all, the doctor examines the patient and provides a referral for laboratory tests. In most cases, patients are recommended to undergo hardware tests:

• CT or MRI;
• X-ray of the cervical spine;
• Dopplerography of blood vessels;
• echo and electroencephalography.

Each of the listed methods has its own characteristics. With the help of modern equipment, specialists are able to obtain comprehensive information about the patient’s health status. After identifying the disease and its characteristics, an appropriate treatment regimen is selected. Treating numbness involves eliminating the underlying causes of discomfort. Since most patients have numbness in their legs and arms due to damage to nerve endings, specialists select a comprehensive treatment aimed at improving the nutrition of the nerves. For this purpose, B vitamins and drugs that reduce blood viscosity and improve blood circulation are prescribed.

If you experience frequent numbness in your limbs, it is not recommended to delay going to the doctor. An experienced specialist will conduct a competent diagnosis and select an effective treatment regimen. Thanks to this, you will be able to get rid of uncomfortable sensations for a long time.

Magic of Sleep - orthopedic mattresses and pillows for your healthy and comfortable sleep.

How to deal with numb hands at home

The situation cannot be ignored if a person is haunted by a feeling of discomfort every night. You can cope with the problem at home, but after mandatory consultation with a specialist in order to exclude diseases dangerous to humans.

If no means help restore restful sleep, neither changing the pillow, nor daytime contrast procedures, then you need to look deeper for the cause.

Folk remedies will help alleviate your condition. Contrast baths are quite

, when hands are alternately lowered first into hot and then into cold water.

After completing the procedure, an ointment containing turpentine is rubbed onto the hands and special gloves are put on to retain heat.

Hands may become numb due to weakened blood vessels; hot water, which should be drunk in small sips on an empty stomach, will help to cope with this problem.

Numb fingers treatment

The choice of therapy depends on the underlying cause. When fingers go numb, treatment includes anti-inflammatory drugs, physiotherapy, gymnastics, and warming ointments with an analgesic effect. Therapeutic massage and acupuncture are indicated.

Taking medications orally is necessary to relieve swelling, improve the functioning of nerve endings and microcirculation. Laser, ultrasound, and acupuncture accelerate the regeneration of affected areas. Electrophoresis helps reduce the intensity of inflammation.

If there are tissue or organ changes, it is necessary to eliminate them. A complete cure is not always possible. In this case, the doctor does everything to reduce the severity of symptoms and improve the patient’s quality of life.

Prevention of hand numbness

An examination of the body did not reveal any serious diseases, then eliminating numbness will not be a difficult task. You can start with morning exercises, which will affect all limbs and all muscle groups. Morning physical activity will help put your heart into a working rhythm and get your blood circulating.

1. Physiotherapy will not be superfluous. The procedure will increase blood circulation. Electrophoresis gives good results.
2. Therapeutic exercises that will strengthen muscles, tendons and joints.
3. Manual therapy. Massaging the numb area will enhance blood supply to weakened areas.

Not everyone perceives numbness in the hands at night as a signal that it’s time to get examined. Many tolerate this condition, believing that these are manifestations of the norm. Indeed, very often numbness in the hands occurs due to improper sleep and incorrectly selected bedding and, as a rule, this problem is quickly and easily solved. However, if the numbness is systematic and a person experiences it every night, and it does not go away for a long time or both hands are affected, then it is unlikely that it will be possible to do without consulting a doctor.

Numbness of the left hand

If your left hand is numb, you should always think about whether a person has heart disease, from mild forms of pathology to very complex and even deadly variants. What heart diseases can numbness in the left arm indicate? Pathological conditions that are accompanied by deterioration of sensitivity in the upper limb on the right include:

• high blood pressure of various origins;
• angina pectoris;
• myocardial infarction.

All these heart diseases require attention from a cardiologist, as they are fraught with consequences and can cause death in the patient.

If numbness of the left arm does not go away after changing body position, lasts more than one hour and is accompanied by pain in the area behind the sternum, then the patient should immediately seek qualified help.