Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night and noticed your hands are numb? Pain and discomfort can keep you from getting a good night’s sleep. It is relatively normal to experience numbness in your arms and hands while sleeping from time to time due to sleeping in a position that temporarily restricts circulation. However, if it happens frequently, then there could be another underlying cause. Numbness in your hands while sleeping may be a sign of a nerve issue, and neurologists in Tucker can help you find lasting relief for your discomfort. Here’s why your hands go numb when you sleep and what you can do about it!
What Can Cause Numbness When Sleeping
Waking up with numbness in your hands can be as unsettling as it is uncomfortable. While you wait for the sensation to return to your hands, it can cause pain, tingling, weakness, and issues with dexterity. Here are nine possible causes for numbness in your hands while sleeping.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
When a nerve is compressed or pinched, it can cause pain, tingling, and numbness in the area. One type of nerve compression that can cause numbness in your hands while sleeping is carpal tunnel syndrome. This disorder is commonly associated with repetitive wrist movements like typing. However, the way you curl your hands and wrists while you sleep can also lead to carpal tunnel syndrome. The median nerve that controls your thumb, index, and middle fingers runs through the carpal tunnel inside your wrist joint. The carpal tunnel helps shelter the median nerve, but when compressed, it can lead to carpal tunnel syndrome. Carpal tunnel syndrome can cause pain, tingling, and numbness in your hands after repetitive movements. Symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome like numbness can also occur at night and wake you up.
Ulnar Nerve Compression
Another type of nerve compression that can cause pain, tingling, and numbness in your hands is called ulnar nerve compression. The ulnar nerve is what controls your pinky and ring fingers and helps your forearm muscles support your hand while you grip things. If you have ever bumped the outside of your elbow and experienced pain and numbness, you may have called this your ‘funny bone.’ The ulnar nerve is closer to the surface of your elbow joint than other nerves, which makes it more susceptible to aggravation or compression. Excessive pressure on your elbow can cause ulnar nerve compression. If you wake up with numbness only in your ring and pinky fingers, then you are likely dealing with ulnar nerve compression.
Radial Nerve Compression
Radial nerve compression is another example of how a pinched nerve can cause your hands to go numb when you sleep at night. The radial nerve helps control your forearm muscles when you extend or flex your wrist and fingers. Excessive pressure on your bicep, forearm, or wrist can aggravate or pinch the radial nerve. When the radial nerve is compressed, it can cause pain, tingling, and numbness. If you sleep on your arm or with your arm at an odd angle, it could aggravate the radial nerve. Resting your head on your fist while in a seated position is one common way that can lead to radial nerve compression.
Cervical Spondylosis
Wear and tear on the body as you age can have an impact on the spinal discs that separate vertebrae in your spine. Spinal discs provide cushion and shock absorption for your spine and help prevent your vertebrae from rubbing against one another. As you age, disc degeneration can occur, and those once spongy and flexible discs can turn brittle and prone to cracking or tearing. An issue with a spinal disc in your neck can compress nearby nerves and cause pain, tingling, and numbness to radiate into your shoulder, arm, and hand. The cervical spine refers to the vertebrae in your neck, and cervical spondylosis is a degenerative disease. Cervical spondylosis can also affect the muscles and tendons in your neck and cause other symptoms like neck pain and stiffness.
Thoracic Outlet Syndrome
Thoracic outlet syndrome is a disorder that affects the blood vessels. When blood vessels are irritated or compressed, it can cause uncomfortable symptoms like numbness in your extremities. Thoracic outlet syndrome is most commonly caused by a neck injury like whiplash. Trauma to the neck can put a lot of pressure and strain on the muscles, tendons, and joints in the neck. If blood vessels in the lower neck and upper chest area become aggravated, compressed, or injured, it can cause numbness in your neck, shoulder, arm, and hand.
Rheumatoid Arthritis
There are many types of arthritis that cause inflammation in and around the joints. Rheumatoid arthritis is a type of arthritis where your body’s immune system attacks its own tissues. The soft tissues and lining of the joints become inflamed due to rheumatoid arthritis, which leads to painful and uncomfortable symptoms. Rheumatoid arthritis in your hands may feel like the sensation of your hands falling asleep, which is a tingling and numbing sensation. One complication of rheumatoid arthritis can also be carpal tunnel syndrome. Symptoms of arthritis can also get worse at night because the body doesn’t release as much of the chemical cortisol that helps with inflammation.
Type II Diabetes
One of the first signs of nerve damage with diabetes is tingling and numbness in your extremities, known as peripheral neuropathy. Over half of people who suffer from diabetes experience some form of peripheral neuropathy. While pain, tingling, and numbness are more common in the feet with type II diabetes, it can also happen in your hands as well. Diabetes can affect the healthy functioning of nerves in your body, like the median, ulnar, and radial nerves mentioned above. Symptoms of peripheral neuropathy happen any time of day but typically get worse at night.
Alcohol Abuse
Excessive drinking and alcohol abuse can actually damage your nerve tissues, known as alcoholic neuropathy. If you drink too much or struggle with alcoholism, then you may experience pain and tingling in your limbs. Alcoholic neuropathy can be a progressive disorder if you continue to drink alcohol, which means your symptoms can get worse. What first started as slight discomfort and tingling could turn into painful tingling and numbness in your hands and feet. Alcohol abuse can also cause other uncomfortable symptoms that may keep you up at night, including muscle cramps, spasms, and weakness.
Vitamin Deficiency
A vitamin deficiency could also be the culprit of tingling and numbness in your extremities. Vitamin B-12 supports the healthy functioning of your brain and central nervous system. This vitamin also supports the body’s ability to make red blood cells. If you have a vitamin deficiency, you may experience numbness and tingling in your hands and feet. A vitamin deficiency can also cause muscle weakness and a decrease in appetite. Vitamin deficiencies can occur for a number of reasons, including diet, health conditions, age, and family history.
How Your Sleeping Position Affects You
The way you sleep at night can also cause you to experience the discomfort of numbness in your hands and arms while sleeping. Here are the three main sleeping positions and how they can help or exacerbate issues like numbness in your hands.
Side Sleepers
If you sleep on your side, this can put a lot of pressure on your shoulder and elbow joint. This means you are likely lying directly on one of the nerves that communicates with your hands, which can cause nerve compression. Nerve compression can cause you to experience that pins and needles sensation like your arm or hand has fallen asleep. Sometimes, all that is needed to resolve paresthesia and numbness in your hands is to change sleeping positions.
Stomach Sleepers
When you sleep on your stomach, it can put an excessive amount of pressure on the spine in your neck. Without the proper support for a neutral spine in your neck, you may experience spinal misalignments or nerve compression. If you sleep with your hands underneath your head while you sleep on your stomach, this could also restrict blood flow or nerve functioning.
Back Sleepers
Back sleepers are less likely to experience tingling and numbness in their hands because this is a more neutral position. However, gripping a pillow too tightly or putting pressure on your hands underneath your head can compress nerves or restrict blood flow. In general, sleeping on your back helps you better maintain a neutral spine.
Diagnosing Numbness in Hands While Sleeping
If you keep waking up with numbness in your hands, then you should talk to your doctor. They may want to run diagnostic imaging tests like X-rays or CT scans to get a better look at what is going on. X-rays provide two-dimensional images of your skeletal structure, while CT scans offer a more detailed look at the soft tissues like muscles, ligaments, cartilage, and nerves. An MRI may also be recommended if your doctor suspects an issue with the spine is causing numbness in your hands. Your doctor may also recommend you see a neurologist for a neurological exam. Neurologists use a variety of neurological exams to test the functioning of your nerves and the brain’s ability to communicate through your nervous system.
Treatment Options for Numbness
In order to determine the best course of action, your doctor will find the root cause of your numbness. An accurate diagnosis will help inform the best treatment options for you. Here are examples of treatment options for numbness in your hands from sleeping.
Home Remedies
In some cases, home remedies can help resolve mild tingling and numbness in your extremities from sleep. Changing your sleeping position may help resolve nerve compression. Over-the-counter medications may also help you with pain and inflammation.
Improve Diet
Improving your diet and making sure you get enough vitamins can help with your overall health. When you focus on eating healthy and getting the right vitamins and nutrients, it can also reduce the effects of any vitamin deficiency.
Stretching & Exercise
Stretches and exercises can help reduce pain and discomfort while also helping you gain strength and improve flexibility. You may try a stretching or yoga routine before bed to help loosen up your muscles and joints. A similar routine could help in the mornings to help with any muscle stiffness.
Ice & Heat
Applying ice and heat to the area can also help provide natural pain relief. Icing the area provides a temporary numbing effect, while heat will help soothe aching muscles. Topical creams can also help relieve mild pain and symptoms like peripheral neuropathy.
Wrist Support
Supporting your hands and wrists with a brace or splint can also help reduce nerve compression. A wrist guard or wrist splint will help keep your wrist straight while you sleep, which takes the pressure off of the median nerve. Splints or wrist guards can also be worn during repetitive tasks to provide better stability to the joint.
Therapeutic Massage
Therapeutic massage can help loosen tight muscles and reduce compression on nearby nerves. Your doctor may recommend therapeutic massage if you are recovering from a neck injury that is causing pain and other symptoms like tingling and numbness.
Chiropractic Care
Chiropractic care can also help resolve misalignments in your cervical spine that may be exacerbating your symptoms. A chiropractor can perform gentle and safe adjustments to your spine and joints to relieve pressure on your nerves.
Visit our team of neurologists in Tucker at AICA Orthopedics if you experience regular or persistent numbness in your hands, day or night. Talk to a neurologist about when you notice the numbness, how long it typically lasts, and if you notice any other symptoms. A neurologist will be able to assess your symptoms and determine the appropriate next steps for you. At AICA Orthopedics, we offer personalized care and treatment, so you get individualized and comprehensive care for whatever is bothering you. Don’t let pain, tingling, or numbness keep you up at night. Schedule an appointment with one of our neurologists in Tucker today!