Many people notice that during sleep there is a feeling of numbness, tingling, and muscle weakness in the hands. Most often it is localized in the hands, but can spread throughout the arm.
It is well known that numbness is associated with impaired blood supply to the limbs. But there can be many reasons for this condition. To prevent these unpleasant sensations, you need to know why your hands go numb during sleep.
Causes of numbness during sleep
Most often, numbness of the hands is a temporary phenomenon. It is caused by physiological causes and is not associated with any pathologies. This is usually an uncomfortable posture during sleep. Circulatory disturbances can be caused by an improperly selected mattress and pillow, tight clothing, and a rare change in body position. Blood supply to the hands is difficult if you sleep by throwing them up or laying them under your head. This is facilitated by tight bracelets, rings, not removed at night.
The cause of numbness may be improper human behavior during the day. This is work with arms raised up, constant weight lifting, monotonous hand movements. Both severe physical overwork and a sedentary lifestyle can lead to numbness of the hands. Blood circulation often worsens among those who drink alcohol or drink coffee at night. This leads to vasoconstriction and fluid retention in the body.The same condition occurs after excessive consumption of spicy or salty foods.
The following reasons can also provoke numbness of the hands:
- violation of posture;
- long sitting in front of the computer;
- alcohol abuse
- smoking;
- severe emotional stress;
- hormonal disruptions during pregnancy or menopause.
Internal causes
If such discomfort occurs frequently, need to see a doctor, since it can be associated with pathological processes taking place in the body. Often this happens due to a lack of essential trace elements. The lack of vitamin B1, magnesium, potassium and iron affects the blood supply to the limbs especially. With age, the absorption of nutrients slows down, so older people often complain of numbness in their hands.
But such discomfort during sleep can be a symptom of such pathologies:
- diabetes;
- atherosclerosis;
- vegetative-vascular dystonia;
- polyneuropathy;
- multiple sclerosis;
- arthritis or arthrosis;
- Raynaud's disease;
- systemic lupus erythematosus;
- neuralgia;
- cirrhosis of the liver.
Numbness is sometimes the first symptom, therefore it is important to see a doctor on timeif this happens often. This is especially important if the patient also experiences dizziness, headaches, impaired coordination of movements, his blood pressure rises or falls.
In identifying the causes of numbness, it is also important to consider in which place the hands feel discomfort, which hands go numb, how often this happens and how long it lasts, what symptoms are accompanied.
Numbness of one arm, which is accompanied by impaired speech, coordination of movements, severe headache and visual impairment, may indicate the development of ischemic stroke. And if paresthesia occurs abruptly, accompanied by pain, swelling and loss of sensation, it may be thrombosis.
One or both hands are often numb due to osteochondrosis or a hernia of the cervical spine. This is due to a violation of innervation due to infringement of the nerve roots. In this case, unpleasant sensations are localized by a strip, for example, on the outside of the arm.
Why does my left hand go numb during sleep?
When a person goes to the doctor with complaints of numbness of the left hand during sleep, he is immediately referred to a cardiologist. After all, this may be a symptom of a malfunction of the heart. This can be a coronary disease, angina pectoris, pre-infarction condition. Often paresthesia in the left hand is the only sign of a heart attack.
Right hand
Most often, the right arm goes numb at night due to carpal tunnel syndrome. This pathology is characterized by compression of the nerve roots going to the hand. This happens with a uniform load on the arm, for example, when working at a computer. Numbness of the right arm can also occur due to scalene syndrome, after an injury, with a stroke.
Numbness in the hands is an unpleasant condition, often caused by external causes associated with blood vessel pressure. But circulatory disorders can be caused by pathologies of the cardiovascular system, osteochondrosis, vascular or nervous system diseases. See a doctor help to detect a heart attack or stroke in time and avoid serious consequences.
