What is numbness? Despite its apparent harmlessness, it can be one of the first symptoms of the disease. Many people report that periodically their legs, arms, or fingers go numb. It is very important not to leave the disease unattended, especially if this condition recurs more than once. As a rule, numbness can be accompanied by a feeling of skin tightness, a needle-like tingling sensation, and a burning sensation. These symptoms may indicate the presence of intervertebral hernias, incipient diabetes mellitus, or osteochondrosis. Numbness also often accompanies migraines, some genetic diseases associated with nerve damage, rheumatism, and in some cases can even be a harbinger of a stroke.
Often people do not take such a fact as numbness of a body area seriously. Others hesitate to see a doctor in the hope that everything will go away on its own. However, if the symptoms recur frequently, it is simply necessary to see a doctor. It is especially important to pay attention if attacks of numbness are accompanied by loss of sensitivity and impaired coordination of movements. This also includes poor sensitivity to temperature changes (for example, the inability to distinguish between hot and cold water). Uneasiness, pain and weakness in a numb limb are also an alarm bell to contact a specialist.
Hands go numb
The reason in such cases is compression of the nerves that supply our limbs with blood. This disease only gets worse over time. Most often, its symptoms appear at night. It all starts with numbness in the pads or phalanx of the fingers. If you do not pay attention in time, numbness in the hands can spread to the palms and arms completely. Then the disease begins to manifest itself at any time of the day, and is expressed not only in the loss of sensitivity, but also in pain, especially when raising the arms. There are many reasons for the occurrence of this disease. It is worth highlighting “carpal tunnel syndrome,” which is common among office workers and programmers. It consists of squeezing the nerve that is responsible for the hand's ability to feel. This syndrome manifests itself when performing the same type of work every day, which causes a large load on the hand. Middle-aged people are most susceptible to it, and, according to statistics, mostly women. If timely treatment is not started, the muscle dies, and the person forever loses the ability to move the thumb.
This disease often occurs in people of working age. And in most cases, the concern is more than justified. Often such numbness means serious problems with the spine, especially in the lumbar region. This could be intervertebral hernia or osteochondrosis. The leg becomes numb and loses sensitivity to pain if the patient has a disease such as diabetes. For a correct diagnosis and appropriate treatment, an X-ray of the spine is required.
If a person’s leg below the knee goes numb (for example, only the fingers), this indicates circulatory and metabolic disorders in the body. In more serious cases, we are talking about spinal tuberculosis or even the development of a cancerous tumor. People with radiculitis also often complain that their legs are numb, tingling in the limbs and “wooliness”. In many of these cases, the person is at serious risk of becoming incapacitated. Moreover, the disease can either pass quickly or develop over years.
As can be seen from the above, numbness of the limbs is not such a harmless factor. Its symptoms can be harbingers of many dangerous diseases. Preventing a disease is always much easier than treating it in an advanced form, so it is recommended to go to the hospital in a timely manner. Only there they will be able to conduct the necessary research to identify the cause of numbness, and then prescribe appropriate treatment and save you from negative consequences.
Probably many people woke up at night from an unpleasant sensation - their fingers went numb. When you try to move them, your limbs start to tingle and hurt. The discomfort gets worse each time. Various factors can provoke such symptoms, the main thing is to pay attention to it in a timely manner and begin treatment.
A common cause of numbness is often found - an uncomfortable pillow. When it is too large, a person, in order to lie comfortably on it, tries to arch the neck section of the spine, as a result of which blood circulation is disrupted. Anyone who understands anatomy probably knows that it is the cervical spine that is responsible for the mobility of the fingers.
In this situation, your problem can be solved: you just need to change the pillow, it’s best to buy an orthopedic one. A special cushion fits under the neck, and the head will be in a small depression. This way you can keep your body position under control and your blood supply will not be disrupted.
A person cannot control himself during night sleep. Some people like to sleep and throw their arms up. Because of this, blood supply to the limbs begins to be disrupted, because the cardiovascular system works very slowly at night. Blood practically does not flow to the necessary places.
Also, the problem of numbness is often found in nursing mothers who love to sleep with their baby. She often falls asleep on one side, adjusting to the baby, with her arm extended to the side, up, or placed under her head. In this situation, you can try to change your position and it will immediately become much easier. It is also recommended not to teach the child to sleep with the mother. Constantly adapting to the baby, the woman does not pay attention to her spine, which, after twisted positions at night, wants the best. Over time, in addition to the fingers becoming numb, the hand and elbow area may also become numb.
If numbness bothers you every night, disturbs sleep, or a person becomes restless, you should consult your doctor. Get examined urgently:
Attention! Numbness of the fingers of the right and left hands at night may be associated with impaired function of the central and peripheral nervous system.
Often unpleasant symptoms are caused by cervical osteochondrosis, polyneuropathy, and intervertebral hernia. If the fingers of your left hand are constantly numb, your heart function is most likely impaired. In this situation, consult a cardiologist. It is especially dangerous when the left hand goes numb both day and night. Such symptoms may indicate a pre-infarction condition, stroke, or micro-stroke. The fingers of the right hand become numb due to arthrosis, rheumatism, and also if the blood vessels of the neck have sharply narrowed.
The first thing you need to do is take your problem seriously, do not think that this is a temporary phenomenon. Numbness may be the first sign of a serious illness.
First, pay attention to what kind of lifestyle you lead, whether your pillow and sleep clothes are comfortable. Often, different cuffs and elastic bands on pajamas can squeeze your hands, which is why characteristic symptoms appear. It is very important to consult with a general practitioner; he should prescribe the necessary examination. Additionally, you need to contact a hematologist, neurologist, or cardiologist.
If there is frequent numbness in the fingers at night, it is necessary to take blood tests, as well as a blood sugar test. Be sure to get an MRI and ECG.
To relieve symptoms and for preventive purposes, you can use time-tested methods:
We can come to the conclusion that numbness can be caused by both banal reasons - an uncomfortable sleeping position, and serious diseases. In order not to risk your health, it is best to undergo an examination and consult with your doctor. Do not forget to monitor the lifestyle you lead; most often it becomes the main cause of all diseases.
Everyone sometimes experiences an unpleasant feeling of numbness and tingling in their hands. Some people complain that they constantly feel a feeling of numbness in their hands: some people have complete numbness in their hands or individual fingers, others feel numbness along the entire length of their arms. People often complain that their hands go numb at night, and some people wake up with this unpleasant feeling in the morning.
Hypoesthesia (loss of sensation) or simply numbness of the hands may indicate the presence of a serious disease. To exclude the possibility of pathology, it is recommended to undergo a detailed diagnosis . Determining the cause of loss of hand sensitivity and identifying the disease at an early stage will allow for timely treatment and prevent the development of complications.
Impaired hand sensitivity can occur as a result of a number of reasons, including:
Why do arms and legs go numb with various diseases?
In all other cases, the dependence of hypoesthesia on the state of the nervous and circulatory system is clearly visible. Only a thorough examination will allow you to accurately identify what was the provoking factor of discomfort.
Watch a video about the most common causes of hand numbness:
Treating a disease is always disproportionately more difficult than preventing it. But if you have the first symptoms of osteochondrosis in the cervical spine, find out how to treat it.
First of all, a person should contact a therapist, who, after comparing the existing symptoms, will refer the patient to a specialist, for example, a hematologist, neurologist or endocrinologist.
The diagnosis of each of the diseases listed above varies significantly, so you should be as detailed as possible about your condition during your consultation.
Typically, the patient describes the following symptoms:
Already on the basis of the listed signs, a professional doctor is able to make a preliminary conclusion, which will later be confirmed or refuted by instrumental means. Diagnosis of hand numbness includes several methods that are used with equal success in identifying various pathologies.
The nature of numbness is of great importance during the examination.
Therefore, in accordance with the expected diagnosis, a number of tests are prescribed, as well as instrumental methods . For example, a blood sample test is used to detect any disease. The presence of numbness allows for the following clinical studies:
Since hypoesthesia is often associated with problems of the spinal column and blood vessels, radiography is widely used. The examination may include:
Based on the diagnostic results, the doctor can not only determine the cause of the pathology, but also develop a personalized treatment program.
If your hands become numb, the main goal of treatment is to restore tissue sensitivity. For this use:
Physiotherapy procedures allow you to activate blood circulation in the affected area, improving tissue nutrition. Hardware methods such as phonophoresis, electrophoresis, laser and microcurrent stimulation stimulate regeneration, allowing for fairly rapid rehabilitation after severe hypoxia.
With the help of manual therapy, they achieve a reduction in joint and muscle blocks, eliminate the inflammatory process and stop the compression of blood vessels and nerve fibers.
Physical therapy (physical therapy) develops and strengthens joints and muscles, significantly improving sensitivity by increasing activity.
Timely examination makes it possible to determine the cause of numbness in the hands at the very beginning of the development of the pathology. Therefore, you should not risk your health and ignore the alarm signal.
If you are bothered by a crunch in your neck and pain when turning your head, radiating to your arm, you need to consult a specialist. This may be a sign of an intervertebral hernia in the cervical spine. What else can cause a crunch in the neck? Read here.
The situation when, waking up at night, you cannot feel your fingers on your hand, is familiar to every person. Some people don’t consider this a problem, while others start to worry. Why do my hands go numb at night? There are many reasons. More often than not, this condition is not associated with serious health problems. But in some cases, close attention should be paid to identifying the factor that provokes loss of sensitivity.
If your arm goes numb every night while you sleep, and other symptoms are present, you should consult your doctor. Loss of sensitivity is a common sign of pathology of the nervous system. However, this is not the only reason for numbness in the hands at night. Diseases of blood vessels, ligaments, joints, consequences of injuries, characteristics of professional activity, endocrine pathology, and some physiological conditions (pregnancy) also contribute.
If your hands go numb at night, you shouldn’t be alarmed right away. The most common cause of this unpleasant sensation is an uncomfortable position. A sleeping person who has the habit of putting his hands under his head or hanging them over the edge of the bed often experiences loss of sensitivity and paresthesia (a crawling sensation). Long-term preservation of a non-physiological position leads to compression of blood vessels and nerves, as a result of which the mentioned manifestations occur.
Compression of the neurovascular bundles promotes awakening, partial or complete. The person changes position, eliminating unpleasant symptoms. It should be remembered that deep sleep, caused, for example, by drinking alcohol or sleeping pills, is a provoking factor for the development of numbness. A person in this condition may not respond to signals from compressed nerves for a long time and continue to sleep in the wrong position, contributing to the appearance of sensitivity disorders.
Another reason is uncomfortable bedding or sleepwear. Pajamas that are too tight can compress blood vessels, impairing blood flow. The problem is solved by replacing the old pillow with an orthopedic one, and clothes with a looser one.
Thus, there are plenty of reasons for numbness in your fingers at night. How to determine that a sensitivity disorder is not a symptom of a pathological condition? Features of numbness due to uncomfortable posture are as follows:
What to do if changing bedding and eliminating the habit of sleeping in an uncomfortable position does not help solve the problem? In this case, more serious causes cannot be ruled out. Let's try to figure out what diseases contribute to the loss of sensitivity.
If your hand goes numb in a dream, this is not always a symptom of a disease. Frequent causes of episodic loss of sensitivity are incorrect posture, compression of neurovascular bundles by tight pajamas, and uncomfortable bedding.
The anatomical zones of the upper limb, the pathology of which is accompanied by paresthesia and numbness, include:
The carpal tunnel is located under the ligaments of the wrist. This is where the median nerve passes. Its compression due to a decrease in the space between the ligaments and bones of the wrist is accompanied by a picture of carpal tunnel syndrome. Predisposing factors include characteristics of professional activity (repeated extensor-flexion movements in the wrist joint), obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, tumors in this area (lipomas), consequences of injuries (scar changes in tendons and ligaments, bone deformation after a fracture).
Carpal tunnel syndrome is one of the common reasons why the right hand goes numb. Excessive load on the wrist joint in right-handed people can provoke inflammation of the ligamentous apparatus and compression of the median nerve. In this case, numbness develops more often during sleep, which can be explained by the habit of sleeping in positions that aggravate the compression of the carpal tunnel structures (for example, with a hand placed under the head). Loss of sensation is observed on the palmar surface of the middle, index, thumb and partially ring fingers.
Distinctive features of carpal tunnel syndrome:
The basis of cubital tunnel syndrome is the same principle of compression of the nerve due to a decrease in the lumen of the canal. With this pathology, the ulnar nerve suffers. The cubital canal is located on the inner surface of the elbow joint. The causes of compression of the nerve in this area are arthrosis, arthritis, synovitis, monotonous movements in the said joint, playing sports, and the consequences of injuries.
Characteristic features of cubital syndrome:
With tunnel syndrome, numbness of the fingers is not limited to 1-2 nights. Changing posture, replacing pillows and sleeping clothes do not help solve the problem. In this case, you should definitely contact a neurologist. Prolonged compression of the nerves contributes not only to sensitivity disorders, but also to disruption of muscle function, which reduces the functionality of the hand.
Cervical osteochondrosis is a common reason why arms go numb during sleep. Dystrophic changes in the intervertebral discs disrupt the stability of the vertebrae, as a result of which the latter are displaced relative to each other. And this, coupled with the formation of osteophytes (bone growths), is a predisposing factor for compression of the spinal nerves.
Numbness of the hands at night with osteochondrosis is explained by an uncomfortable posture, aggravating the displacement of the vertebrae and compression of the spinal nerve roots. Depending on the affected area, only the thumb, the entire hand, and so on may become numb. The symptom is associated with the load on the cervical spine and often occurs during the day. Other signs of osteochondrosis are also observed: neck pain, dizziness, spots before the eyes, crunching when turning the head, chest pain simulating an angina attack.
Polyneuropathy, especially caused by an increase in the concentration of glucose in the blood, is another example of a common pathology that explains why the hands become numb. Hyperglycemia in uncompensated diabetes mellitus has a toxic effect on nerve tissue and also impairs the blood supply to the nerves.
Distinctive features of distal diabetic polyneuropathy:
Why do my hands go numb during sleep? Multiple sclerosis is the process of destruction of the myelin sheath of nerve fibers in the brain and spinal cord. In this case, various neurological disorders occur. Hand numbness is one of them. Other common signs of multiple sclerosis include: movement disorders (paralysis, paresis); disorders of vision, functions of the pelvic organs; imbalance, coordination of movements and some others. The clinical picture becomes more complex as new areas of the central nervous system (CNS) are involved in the process. And if at first the patient only has numbness in his hands, then other disorders appear.
Sudden loss of sensation in the arm may be a symptom of a stroke or a tumor of the central nervous system. In this case, numbness persists permanently. Loss of sensitivity that lasts several hours but completely disappears within 24 hours is a symptom of a transient ischemic attack (ministroke).
If your hands go numb at night, the causes may be a variety of diseases of the nervous system. Therefore, frequently recurring episodes of loss of sensitivity, especially those that persist for a long time and/or combined with other neurological symptoms, are a reason to seek advice from a neurologist.
Blood flow in the upper extremities is most often disrupted due to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques inside the vessels. Lack of blood circulation that exists for a long time contributes to a feeling of numbness. However, this symptom is far from the only one. Other signs of atherosclerosis of the upper extremities include:
Thus, the clinical picture of vascular pathology is varied and is not limited only to numbness of the hands. Symptoms of the disease bother the patient at any time of the day. Upon examination, signs are revealed that clearly indicate insufficiency of blood flow in this anatomical area.
Why does my left hand go numb? The reasons for the loss of sensitivity are the same as in the case of the right hand. However, it is also worth thinking about a disease such as angina pectoris.
Its typical attack occurs in response to physical activity and is characterized by pain behind the sternum, often radiating to the left arm. However, there is a type of angina when a disorder of cardiac blood flow occurs at rest, including at night (Prinzmetal's angina). If the fingers on the left hand go numb, this may indicate a violation of the blood supply to the myocardium.
Why do my fingers go numb in my sleep? Loss of sensation in the hands can occur in pregnant women. This is explained by a violation of water-salt metabolism:
Raynaud's syndrome/disease is a pathology accompanied by vasospasm. The triggering factor is the effect of cold, as well as stress. The attack is characterized by a feeling of freezing of the hand, numbness, and the appearance of unpleasant sensations. The skin becomes pale, then changes color to blue-violet. After the attack has stopped, redness of the hand is observed.
Causes of numbness in fingers also include:
Why do my hands go numb in my sleep? The reasons are varied. Loss of sensation, which occurs infrequently, lasts a short time and completely disappears on its own, is usually not a sign of serious pathology. In all other cases, specialist advice is required.
Episodic sensitivity disorders do not require medical intervention. If the clinical picture includes additional signs, the hands are permanently numb, the cause should be looked for. The scope of research will depend on what pathology the doctor suspects, based on symptoms and examination data:
Treatment tactics depend on the diagnosis. For example, in the initial stages of carpal tunnel syndrome, conservative therapy is performed; if ineffective, surgery is performed to decompress the compressed nerve. With diabetic polyneuropathy, the main task is to achieve compensation for diabetes mellitus. Also used are drugs that improve the functioning of the nervous system (B vitamins, milgamma) and blood circulation (Trental).
What to do if your hands go numb in your sleep:
To speed up the restoration of sensitivity in a numb hand, you can perform the following exercises:
Traditional medicine tips also help to cope with numbness:
If the recommendations given do not help, you should definitely consult your doctor. Numbness that is not caused by disease can be easily corrected at home. In other cases, it is necessary to establish the cause. Treatment tactics will depend on the diagnosis.