Last night I woke up twice with a completely numb arm. Not because I’ve got bad circulation, but because I was sleeping in a funny position.
Anyway, what I wanna know is, if I hadn’t woke up when I did, what would’ve happened to my arms with the circulation cut off for so long?
It would have rotted off before you woke up.
This happens to me routinely. Both arms are still intact.
Isn’t limb numbness caused by a pinched nerve, not by cutting off your circulation? Your arm wasn’t cold and white, was it?
In any case, doing it routinely or for extended periods can’t be good for you, can it?
You could be pinching a nerve in your neck with a poor pillow. Your arms aren’t going to fall off, but you ARE asking for more pain than you are really required to suffer in life.
Try a different pillow.
~VOW
Happens to me invariably if I end up lying face down with my arms down my sides. Both arms completely dead. I either:
A) Get Lady Chance to turn me over
B) Flop around like a fish until an arm falls off the edge of the bed then hangs there until I get control back.
Either way it’s painful to experience.
But it’s been happening for 20 years. Still got both arms.
It’s probably not relevant to sleeping at home, but you might want to read about economy-class syndrome.
You would have woken up armless in a bathtub filled with ice with “CALL 911 OR YOU WILL DIE… OH WAIT, YOU HAVE NO ARMS, NEVER MIND” written on the bathroom mirror.
This reminds me of a bedtime incident I suffered about two weeks ago. Basically, I must have been sleeping on my arm, and when I changed position in my sleep my other hand fell and rested on my “dead” hand. Rudely shocked from my slumber as I felt “someone else’s hand” on my leg, I leapt dozily from the bed and proceeded to smack my head hard against the door. As I woke up to my senses there on the floor, I was left with a numb arm, a big red mark on my forehead, and a severely bruised pride.
I would suggest, therefore, that numb limbs can certainly cause you harm.
My sister, who is a consultant physician in a hospital, indicates that this is probably the correct diagnosis. In most situations of this kind your arm is not dying from lack of blood.
However, if someone has applied a tourniquet while you slept, or you are seriously into bondage, I suggest you loosen the ties until the feeling comes back. (In the case of bondage, beg your master/mistress to loosen the ties. A dead slave is not much use.)
Seriously, if the numbness does not go away, seek medical help soonest, as this can be a symptom of something serious like a stoke.
Stroke, not stoke.
Yeah, there probably isn’t anything to worry about. It seems 'armless.
ducks and runs
You better stop sleeping funny.
See how long it takes me to type this with the pencil in my mouth?
Slight hijack, but it always seemed to me like it would be fairly easy to really injure yourself when you’re in this kind of situation. For instance, your arm is numb, you roll off the bed, and your arm just crumples under you. Which seems like it would be quite bad.
Anyone hear of this happening?
No, but I know someone who has twisted his ankle when his foot/leg fell asleep and he tried to stand up and start walking.