Numbness in Hands While Sleeping

Read this story for a better understanding of the problem of numbness in hands while sleeping.

When your hands go numb in the middle of the night, you feel a strange kind of discomfort and your sleep gets disturbed. It is often accompanied by a dull or sharp pain. As a result, the hands are weakened so much that you feel like your hands are paralyzed.

Though actually they are not paralyzed and you can move them but there is no strength. You cannot carry out any activities with the affected hand. If it happens once in a while, you can ignore it. However, if it happens quite often, then it is an indication that something is wrong.

One of the reasons for which one may experience numbness in the hands during sleep is wrong sleeping position. While sleeping, if your hand is twisted or compressed for long under your body or pillow then it may go numb.

This happens because there is a temporary disruption of blood circulation in the affected part of the hand. The numbness subsides as soon as the pressure is released from the hand and normal blood circulation in the affected part is restored.

If you are sleeping with your hands on your sides and still get numbness, then it can be due to one of the following reasons:

In this condition, the median nerve that provides feeling or sensation to the fingers and facilitates their movement gets compressed at the wrist area. This mostly happens because of overuse of hands and fingers.

For this reason, this is commonly found in those people who use their fingers excessively for typing, playing piano, painting or playing racket sports. Here, the numbness is accompanied by a pain that often gets extended up to the elbow.

When a peripheral nerve root of spinal cord that transmits nerve impulses to the hand is pressed at the neck joint, it causes numbness in hands.

Compression of the nerve root mostly occurs due to a herniated disc or formation of bone spur on cervical bone. Besides numbness, other symptoms of pinched nerve are burning pain and a tingling sensation in hands and fingers.

In this condition, uncontrolled blood sugar level of diabetic patients causes extensive damage to the small nerve fibers at the extremities of the body like hands and feet. These nerve fibers in hand help you to feel heat, cold, pain, etc.

When they stop functioning normally, transmission of signals through these damaged nerves get affected and there is loss of sensation in the hands. It can be identified with other accompanying symptoms such as burning feeling in hands and an extremely sensitive skin to touch.

Numbness in hands can be a symptom of several other underlying health problems. Some of them are: deficiency of vitamin B12, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, Raynaud's disease, Buerger's disease, Lyme disease, etc.

Here, I would like to tell you one thing that anyone who gets numbness in hands should not assume that they are suffering from one or more of these diseases. Rather, if you have been diagnosed with any of these medical problems, it can be assumed that numbness of hands at night is because of that particular health problem.

When you get woken up with a feeling of numbness in hands, the first thing that you want is to get rid of the discomfort. For this, take an ice cube, wrap it up with a thin piece of cloth and place it over the numb hand for 15 minutes but not more than that.

Ice application can provide relief from the numbness by improving blood circulation in the area.

However, if it recurs again and again, then you must consult a doctor for proper treatment of the problem. The exact cause is diagnosed with the help of physical examination of the hand and laboratory tests like x-rays and MRI scan.

Your medical history, lifestyle and numb hand symptoms are also taken into account. Usually, doctors will advise you to rest your hands as much as possible.

When it is caused by carpal tunnel syndrome, you have to suspend all such activities that involve overuse of the wrist and fingers. Some patients are advised to wear splints at night for several weeks. The pain that accompanies the numb feeling is treated with the help of oral pain relieving medicines.

For an unbearable pain caused by carpal tunnel syndrome, corticosteroid injections are administered at the wrist joint to bring down the pain and inflammation.

Physical therapy is recommended in several cases of pain and numbness in hands. Physical therapists will advise to massage the hands and fingers in order to increase blood flow to the area.

They often give suggestions on modification of activities to minimize the pressure on the wrist. When any particular nerve is badly damaged due to pinched nerve or carpal tunnel syndrome, the pressure from the nerve has to be eased off with the help of surgery.

Those who are suffering from any underlying health problem should treat that problem properly in order to stop recurrence of numbness in hands while sleeping. For instance, diabetic patients need to control blood sugar levels with medicines and diet.

When there is some circulation problem, doctors prescribe suitable medicines for the purpose of relaxation of blood vessels. People with nutritional deficiency should rectify the problem with suitable diet and nutritional supplements.

Finally, I would like to assure you that whatever be the cause of numbness in hands while sleeping, it can be treated successfully with timely treatment. For faster recovery from the problem, you should ensure on your part that you lead a healthy lifestyle.

Eat healthy nutritious foods and exercise regularly to keep yourself healthy. If your doctor has suggested some diet, you must strictly follow that. Avoid the use of tobacco and alcohol as both are bad for you in this condition. Take a good amount of rest and keep your mind stress free.