Sometimes when I sit with my leg elevated or it’s just positioned the right way it will “go to sleep”, meaning it will become numb and tingly. Until the numbness goes away it’s very difficult to walk on it and quite entertaining to those song to see me attempting to walk. Of course I’ve had on occasion my arm or hand do the same thing. What caused this? My thought is that it is either from putting pressure on a nerve or restricting blood flow to the offending appendage. So, which one is it, blood or nerve?
I always believed that those temporary numbness we experience were cause by an interruption of the blood flow, but looking on wikipedia, I see that, as you said, it’s caused by pressure on a nerve. Interesting.
I have get numbness from pressured nerves all the time. I often clutch my hands across my body in a certain way and wake up with numbness either in my thumb and pointer finger, or in the three remaining fingers. Feeling comes back in a few seconds after I move, but I was wonder am I doing any long term damage by pressuring the nerves so much?
This sort of numbness is typically a compression neuropathy and if the nerve has not suffered prolonged compression, will resolve rapidly. Longer compression can cause more lasting injury.
Ischemia to an entire limb from compression is possible but unlikely, and the presentation is a bit different (Look up the 6 P’s…). Also more dangerous, on average.
I’ve had an issue with this for around 15 years. My legs fall asleep easily and often I can’t stand on them. I’ve fallen down because its like I have no legs there. I did see a doctor- they couldn’t figure anything out. The first one spent a lot of time asking if I did drugs and telling me it wasn’t normal- which I knew and was the reason I was there.
I’ve mentioned it to my surgeon before, but he didn’t seem concerned. I’ll mention it to my GP next visit. I’m taking a WAG and say it’s due to the L3 to S1 fusion, perhaps a pinched nerve of some kind. It’s really never worried me, but it is annoying as hell sometimes.
There is a problem called drunkard’s palsy. This is where a person falls asleep in a chair with their arm over the back. The pressure on the radial nerves can cause a complete loss of sensation lasting from several minutes to some hours. There is a related palsy called Honeymoon palsy caused by one partner sleeping on the other’s arm.
If this tendency for your limbs “falling asleep” also occurs in any of your relatives (beyond what is expected in anyone), consideration could be given to an entity known as “Tomaculous neuropathy” better termed “Hereditary Neuropathy with Liability to Pressure Palsies”. You can search for either phrase using Google or PubMed to find a lot more info.
If this diagnosis seems to be a possibility, then consultation with a neurologist interested in diseases of the peripheral nerve may be helpful.
It’s *not *normal? If I have my legs crossed for any extended period of time (say, 10 minutes or more), the elevated leg almost always falls asleep, and I have to wait a couple of minutes before I can walk on it. It’s been that way all my life, and I’ve never had any reason to think it was abnormal. Like clairobscur, I’ve always assumed it was due to blood flow. Should I be talking to my doctor about this?
I had a numb pinky toe for about 6 months. It turned out to be a reaction to some nerve pain meds I was on. Once I got off of them it took about 3 more months to feel normal. Do you have any meds you are on that may cause numbness in your extremities?
Well yeah. But isn’t this where the smartest idiots on the internet are?
If your limbs start falling off, I’d suspect leprosy.
Wait…I just read the OP again… you’re asking about your leg going to sleep? That’s what it’s called, you elevate it, put pressure on the blood vessels, maybe on the nerves too, and your leg feels numb, and you look funny trying to walk. I hate when my leg goes to sleep during the day, then it’s up all night.
I’ve had recurring issues with my top left front thigh getting numb and/or having a pins and needles sensation, especially when I lay down. It’s gotten to the point where it’s now painful to touch the entire area and I have to re-position pillows and put my leg on top of them in order to get to a comfortable enough position that I can sleep. My doctor said that it’s my sciata nerve being compressed. I wonder where it’s been the rest of my life, cause I’ve never had these issues before.
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I’ve had recurring issues with my top left front thigh getting numb and/or having a pins and needles sensation, especially when I lay down. … My doctor said that it’s my sciata nerve being compressed. I wonder where it’s been the rest of my life, cause I’ve never had these issues before.
It’s hell getting older.
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Yep, sounds like radiculopathy from L3 or L4. The nerves exit your spine through slots between vertebrae called foramina. With aging or injury, the discs that normally separate and cushion the vertebrae break down and the foramina get smaller and compress the exiting nerves.
You may still be at a point where your symptoms can be managed with non- or minimally-invasive measures like physical therapy or steroid injections. The next step after that (broadly speaking) is surgery - probably a laparoscopic or “micro” discectomy.
As for myself, I’m beyond that and in exactly three weeks, I’m in for an L4-L5-S1 fusion as my lumbar spine has degraded to bone-on-bone, and the L5-S1 foramen* that should be about 2/3" tall has collapsed to about a tenth of an inch tall. As one doc said “You’re still able to walk?” :eek:
Old Latin words can get weird. Singular foramen, plural foramina.
