arm going numb?

[Brandi]

hmmm? I guess like always it is hard to say without seeing a dr. I just feel sometimes I go to often and most of the time he says "you are young, you are healthy"! I don't want him to think I am over reacting on every little thing. My husband always says "welcome to getting older". I don't know? Thanks for your insites ladies it means a lot!

[spokewench]

I have a lower back vertebral crush injury - have had since I was in my 20's.

I also have for many years had problems with my arms going to sleep when I am in bed. I can't sleep on my back or stomach due to the lower back vertebral crush injury so I always have to sleep on my sides. I wake up probably numerous times during the night and just turn over to the other side. Most of the time, my arms are asleep. I've never seen anyone about it and never thought to talk to a doctor about it. Just thought it was something I had to live with. So far, I do not have any long term effects, i.e. numbness in the daytime, etc.

Now you have me thinking about seeing a doc about this too? This probably doesn't help you, but at least, you know you are not alone!

[gingergin]

Definitely get it checked - to save yourself from the discomfort if nothing else. For a long time I would wake up in the middle of the night with several fingers or my whole hand numb and pins & needles. But it wasn't until I bought my bike (Trek 7200fx hybrid) in March that I knew something was wrong - I would start to get pins & needles in my fingers after only about 15 minutes of riding. Saw a hand specialist and ended up being told I had both ulnar nerve damage and median nerve trouble (carpal tunnel syndrome). So I had to start sleeping in splints and with my arm wrapped up in a towel to keep it straight! Now everything is much better when I sleep, but still not when I ride! My bike was never fitted to me when I bought it but I thought it didn't matter because I am fairly upright on it. But right now I am thinking I need to have someone good look at me on my bike. Hopefully they will make some adjustments so I can ride with both hands on the handlebar instead of frequently having to let go one hand to prevent numbness.

[Offthegrid]

Now that I've been diagnosed with celiac, it is quite possible my arm and leg numbness is linked to that. Vitamin B12 deficiency can cause permanent nerve damage -- and tingling in the arms and legs. I've started on a supplement.

Not that you have celiac, but another possible cause if you're deficient in some vitamins and nutrients.

[GLC1968]

Wow, Brandi - I have the EXACT same thing. Exactly.

I've always slept on my sides and until recently, I never had any arm numbness (unless, very rarely, I fell asleep ON the arm and woke up with it completely dead...but that was different). Now, it happens in both arms and more often than not, it's the arm that's on top that goes numb. It's not like blood is cut off either...because with movement, sensation returns almost immediately, not after a minute or two of feeling the blood rush back in.

I've been attributing it to shoulder issues, because that's where the numbness starts (and extends down my whole arm and includes my whole hand). I also never had this until I started riding, so I figured it had something to do with the way the small muscles and tendons in my shoulders are changing due to cycling for my cardio instead of doing other activities. I figure that since I've bascially stopped upper body weight training (bad, I know) that once I get back in shape again, it might resolve itself.

I have also never felt any issues during the day. Weird!

[margo49]

Went thru a phase like this during one of the pregnancies . Fixed it by adding another pillow (to my head end)
Sounds dumb after all the above complex theories , I know, but still worth $0.02

[anakiwa]

It could certainly be a lot of different things.

I was having similar problems a year or two ago when I was doing a lot of cross-country skiing (not currently a problem since it's still downright summery for December on the East Coast). I attributed things to carpel tunnel (compression of the median nerve) or ulnar nerve compression. If you bend your wrist when you sleep (something most of us do without thinking about it) it puts more pressure on the nerves.

I found that sleeping with wrist splints helped (you can get these over the counter- just tell them you're looking for a splint for carpel tunnel). Again, it could be a lot of things, but if it seems to be mainly coming from the hand and you're avoiding going to the doctor, the wrist splints might be worth a try (just try them on before you buy them- the sizing can be a little funny).