There is a particular sensation that can wake you from a perfectly good night’s sleep.
You roll over, reach for your phone and suddenly realise that your hand feels as though it belongs to somebody else.
It is numb.
Perhaps there are pins and needles running through the fingers. Maybe there is a strange buzzing or burning sensation. Sometimes the hand feels completely “dead” until you shake it, rub it or move your fingers around.
A few minutes later, everything seems normal again.
So what happened?
Quite often, nothing particularly sinister.
But if it keeps happening, there may be more to it than simply sleeping awkwardly.
Sometimes your sleeping position really is the problem
When you sleep, you can unknowingly put pressure on a nerve supplying your arm or hand.
You may sleep with your arm underneath your head, bend your wrist sharply, lie on your arm or keep your elbow bent for several hours.
The result can be temporary numbness or pins and needles.
This is the familiar “my arm has gone to sleep” feeling.
The NHS explains that ordinary pins and needles commonly occur when pressure temporarily affects the nerves, such as when we sit or sleep on part of our body. Once the pressure is removed, the sensation normally disappears within a few minutes. (nhs.uk)
That is generally reassuring.
The important question is what happens when it becomes a regular visitor.
Which fingers are affected?
This is something I would ask about in the pharmacy.
Not because the fingers can give us a definite diagnosis, but because the pattern can provide useful clues.
If the numbness mainly affects the thumb, index and middle fingers, particularly if it is worse at night, one possibility is pressure on the median nerve at the wrist. This is the nerve involved in carpal tunnel syndrome.
Carpal tunnel syndrome commonly causes tingling, numbness, aching and sometimes weakness in the hand, with symptoms often worse at night. (nhs.uk)
If the symptoms are mainly around the little finger and part of the ring finger, another nerve may be involved, often where it passes around the elbow.
And if the sensation seems to travel from the neck or shoulder down the arm into the hand, the problem may be coming from irritation of a nerve higher up.
In other words, “my hand goes numb at night” is a symptom rather than a diagnosis.
Diabetes can affect the nerves
This is one I would particularly want to know about when someone repeatedly complains of numbness or tingling.
Diabetes is the most common cause of peripheral neuropathy in the UK. Persistently high blood glucose can damage the nerves over time. (nhs.uk)
Peripheral neuropathy more commonly affects the feet and legs, but nerves elsewhere can also be affected.
The symptoms can include numbness, pins and needles, burning sensations, altered sensation and weakness.
So if somebody tells me that their hands are becoming numb at night and they also have tingling or reduced sensation in their feet, I would be much less inclined simply to blame their sleeping position.
That deserves proper investigation.
Don’t forget vitamin B12
Another question worth asking is whether there could be a vitamin deficiency, particularly vitamin B12.
B12 deficiency can affect the nervous system and cause symptoms such as numbness, pins and needles, muscle weakness and problems with balance or coordination. Importantly, neurological symptoms can occur even when someone does not have obvious anaemia. (nhs.uk)
This is why persistent unexplained tingling shouldn’t automatically be treated with a bottle of vitamins from the supermarket.
The sensible approach is to find out why the symptom is happening.
A GP can assess the symptoms and, where appropriate, arrange blood tests including vitamin B12 and other investigations. (nhs.uk)
What can you actually do about it?
If the numbness happens occasionally and disappears quickly when you change position, start with the simple things.
Try not to sleep with your arm trapped underneath you.
Avoid keeping your wrist tightly bent for long periods.
Don’t spend the entire night with your elbow sharply folded underneath your body.
If the symptoms particularly suggest carpal tunnel syndrome, a wrist splint that keeps the wrist straight at night can sometimes help. The NHS recommends night-time wrist splinting as one self-care option for carpal tunnel syndrome. (nhs.uk)
But I would not automatically buy a wrist splint simply because your fingers tingle.
The cause matters.
When should you get it checked?
This is where the pharmacist’s questions become important.
I would suggest seeing your GP if the numbness:
- keeps coming back
- lasts for a long time rather than disappearing quickly
- is gradually becoming more frequent
- is present during the daytime as well
- is associated with weakness or difficulty gripping
- is accompanied by numbness or tingling elsewhere
- is affecting your ability to use your hand normally
- occurs alongside diabetes or another condition that can affect nerves
Persistent or recurrent pins and needles should not simply be ignored. (nhs.uk)
Your GP may examine sensation, muscle strength and reflexes and may arrange blood tests to look for causes such as diabetes or vitamin B12 deficiency. In some cases, nerve-conduction testing or other investigations may be needed. (nhs.uk)
And there is one situation you should never ignore
There is a big difference between waking up because you slept on your hand and suddenly developing numbness or weakness in one side of your body.
If numbness or weakness comes on suddenly, particularly if there is facial drooping, difficulty speaking, confusion, dizziness, vision problems or a severe headache, think stroke.
Remember FAST:
F – Face: has one side of the face dropped?
A – Arms: can both arms be lifted and kept up?
S – Speech: is speech slurred or confused?
T – Time: call 999 immediately.
The NHS stresses that stroke symptoms can happen suddenly, and even if the symptoms disappear after a short time, urgent medical attention is still required because this could be a TIA. (nhs.uk)
The bottom line
Most of us will wake up with a numb hand at some point.
Sometimes the explanation really is as simple as sleeping on it.
But if your hands are repeatedly waking you during the night, don’t just accept it as another annoying part of getting older.
Pay attention to which fingers are affected, whether it happens in one or both hands, how long it lasts and whether there are any daytime symptoms.
Those little details can make a surprisingly big difference when trying to work out what is going on.
And as I often tell people at the pharmacy, a symptom that keeps returning is worth asking about, even when it doesn’t hurt.
Until next time, look after yourself.
This article is for general health information and is not intended to replace individual medical advice.
Health Matters (zaynp100@yahoo.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
The User Content (as defined on Newswav Terms of Use) above including the views expressed and media (pictures, videos, citations etc) were submitted & posted by the author. Newswav is solely an aggregation platform that hosts the User Content. If you have any questions about the content, copyright or other issues of the work, please contact creator@newswav.com.
