I’ve had this problem for as long as I can remember. When I get up in the morning, my hands are too weak for me to make a tight fist. I can put on my glasses and wash my face and things like that, but I can’t clench my hands. They return to normal in less than half an hour.
This is only mildly annoying, and not serious enough to visit a doctor about. I don’t think it’s a problem with circulation or nerve pinching, because there is no pain or tingling or any other unpleasant sensation. Also, my arm strength is normal - it’s just my hands.
Does anyone else have this problem? What could it possibly be?
I know there’s a certain tensing/retraction of joints (can you tell I’m no doctor?) when we sleep. That’s why it’s easy to crack a load of joints by stretching first thing in the morning. On the other hand, it’s possible there’s a problem.
Even if you don’t make an appointment, it’s worth mentioning to the doctor next time you see him. Think of it like going to the optician, and saying “my eyes are blurry in the morning”. They’ll do a full check, and probably tell you it’s nothing.
Sounds awfully like a nerve issue to me, but I ain’t about to try to start diagnosing over the internet. Especially seeing as how I’m not a doctor, much less a neurologist. Thus my primary advice would be to see a doc. And yes, I did read all of your post, but if you’ll allow be to get on my hobby horse for a second, I disagree with the notion of things not being worth going to a doc over. If it’s something that’s obviously abnormal, and it doesn’t go away on its own within a relatively short timeframe, it’s worth going to a doc for. Preventative treatment is the secret to good health care. And now I’ll dismount…
Off the top of my head, I can think of two good reasons for a neuro problem to present with the temporality you describe - the first is swelling going down as you stand up and get going for the day; the second is that you’re simply sleeping in such a way as to pinch a nerve. Most folks sleep with their elbows bent, which stretches the ulnar nerve, which innervates most of the musculature of the hand. But if you’re talking about really making a tight fist, you’ll be using some of your flexor muscles in your forearm, which aren’t ulnar. Which in turn makes it less likely that you’re pinching a single peripheral nerve. So then I’d back things up closer to the spinal cord, to see if you’re dealing with muscles innervated by the same branch of the brachial plexus (I should think not too likely if you have both ulnar and radial nerve involvement). So then I’d back things up even further, towards that brain thingy. Which is where my limited grasp of the topic begins to fail, and I’d encourage you once again to go see a doc.
Hope some of that helped, but do keep in mind that IANAD, MLAN
Do you curl your wrists when you sleep? You might try buying some inexpensive wrist splints and wearing them to sleep at night for a while. To prevent chafing, cut the toes off a pair of old tube socks, and cut a hole for your thumb. At the very least, it won’t hurt you, and it might help.
Your symptoms sound a bit like my carpal tunnel issues (diagnosed) and the splints make a big difference in my symptoms when I wake up.
Do you do something during the day that involves holding you fingers in one position for long stretches of time? The reason I ask is because I had a similar problem once, except that it only affected two fingers of my left hand. At the time I was in the habit of playing a certain computer game for an hour or two almost every day, and this was a driving game that involved a steering wheel. I would always hold the wheel in my left hand and never take that hand off the wheel for the full hour or two that I was playing. Also, the grip I used had two of my fingers held out straight while the rest were curled around the wheel.
The grip felt comfortable while I was using it, but when I woke up each morning, those two fingers would be stiff and it took all my strength to bend them. After half an hour or so they would be back to normal, but the next morning they would be stiff again.
I started using a different grip and the problem then gradually went away.
I also had the same problem with my feet for a while, but that problem went away on its own; I never did figure out what the cause was.
So, if you spend an hour or two every day clutching a steering wheel, that could be your problem.
Thanks for the responses. Maybe I should clarify my condition. Unlike TMINCrazy , the weakness probably won’t go away on its own. I’ve had this problem since I was a wee tot (I’m 33). But it’s kind of comforting knowing that someone else had this problem and it went away! But on the bright side, it has never gotten worse. The length of time my hands are weak remains the same.
The other two posters suggested I see a doctor - I don’t really want to do that right now, as I am in Japan, for reasons I don’t want to get into in this thread. But perhaps when I return to the States, I will get an opinion.
Anyway, about the nerve pinching - I change position an awful lot while I sleep. I doubt I stay in one position long enough to pinch anything. Also, it’s symmetrical -both hands are equally weak. If it were a pinched nerve, it seems more likely to affect one side only. But IANAD, either.
For someone who isn’t a doctor, ellis555 , yer talk is shurr full of ulnas and brachias and thangs!
Chotii, when I fall asleep, my wrists are usually straight, but who knows what happens in my sleep? If I can find some wrist splints here, I might try your suggestion as an experiment.
However, it seems unlikely that this is a repetitive motion injury, like carpal tunnel. First of all, I’ve had this problem since I was very young. Also, I don’t do work that requires such motion. Finally, I have no problems during the day. My hands are weak only when I just get up.
I’ve had this same condition since I can remember (about 4yo) and now I’m 33 and its still the same. However, I’ve never considered it a problem. I’m sure that everyone has this to one degree or another.
RindaRinda, you said you can still make a fist, but just not a strong one, correct? I’ve always just assumed one couldn’t do strenuous muscle activity until the “juices got flowing”.
I wouldn’t worry about it if I were you. BTW, why do want to punch people so early in the morning? At least wait 'til breakfast is over.
Do a search here in GC. I know this very problem came up within the last month or so and if I recall correctly someone postulated it had something to do with a chemical released in the brain that allowed muscles to relax during sleep, thereby “paralyzing” them in the morn.
I couldn’t find it but for the past 2 months the search function’s had it in for me.
I finally post on here, and it turns out that the subject has already been discussed! I am so embarrassed.
In my defense, I did try a search, but nothing came up. Perhaps I didn’t use the right combination of words? I’ll try again, though.
Duggie, you have this problem, too??? I can barely make a fist. My fingers just curl up weakly toward my palm. Have you, by any chance, read the previous thread on this subject? And there are other uses for fists besides punching, heh heh.
Thank you for the link. My experience is the opposite - I am the only person I know who has this problem. I’ve asked and gotten strange looks. My husband, for one, can make a really tight fist as soon as he wakes up.
I wonder if there is a resident neurologist who can explain the cause for this.
It’s the weight of your head resting on a nerve your arm, temporarily disabling it. Could be blood-flow-related somehow too, but it isnt simply a matter of lack of blood to the area, because the area looks perfectly normal–the muscle just doesn’t work for a while.
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The same thing can happen with your toes (you can’t curl them up or down right after you wake up) if you tend to cross your legs while you sleep.
~
Heh heh. That’s cause IANAD(Yet) - I gotta fool them into giving me the green light for a few more years ‘fore I have to take responsibility for killing my own patients. In the meanwhile, I have to make do with playing the pompous ass on message boards. The ulnar nerve is the one that runs in the groove on your elbow where you get to bang it and hurt yourself. The brachial plexus is a big ol’ mess of nerves up in your shoulder that’s rather like some sick highway exchange. It gets seared into the mind of every med student, and those who enjoy learning about it become neurologists. Which don’t include me.
Given the fact that it happens in both hands every day, I’m kinda more of a fan of the theory that swelling is involved, as it would seem a little strange for you to be sleeping in such a way as to consistently pinch the same nerve in each arm, night in and night out. The whole swelling bit is basically just based on the fact that during the day fluid in your body collects down in your legs, and at night, when you lie flat, it gets redistributed more evenly throughout your body. The carpal tunnel is a “good” place for this to happen, but what you’re describing doesn’t really sound like that to me. Let me poke around a bit amongst those wiser than I and see if I can’t find a better guess for you.
In the meanwhile, you might provide some more symptoms. Any pain, tingling or numbness, or is it strictly a matter of weakness? Ever happen anywhere else? Is it the exact same every morning? Is it every single morning? Just the muscles in your hand, or any others? If you make a tight fist while feeling your forearm, you can tell that some of the muscles there are involved in the fist-making process - is it those guys that are weak, or is it the muscles that are actually in your hand? Basically, any info would help. Not that I can promise any help in return.
-ellis
Who still says see a doc once you get back to the states.
Actually, as I stop and think about it a little more, I’m liking tissue edema (swelling) causing compression of the carpal tunnel more and more. I’ll get back to you on this once I’ve consulted with some real docs.
Same thing happens to me. I think it is only really noticeable in the hand as you are pushing it to extremes to make a tight fist. If you tried to lift something very heavy when you first woke up I expect you would experience the same thing. I always took it as a general weakness of the body as you come out of sleep. Several people I know have it to one degree or another.
I’m with some of the other posters here - same thing happens to me since ever. I’ll confess that I haven’t checked it recently, but I’m sure I still can’t make a tight fist right away after waking up. Matter of fact, my first response to seeing this thread was, “What? You mean some people can?!” Apparently so. Never knew - thought the “hard to clench fist in morning” syndrome was universal.
but you did ask whether anyone else had experienced it.