Hands and fingers often feel numb or like they have pins and needles, especially at night. Most of the time, these symptoms mean that a nerve is being pinched somewhere. But sometimes, the cause is different and could be very bad. Hand numbness can also be caused by heart intrusions and multiple sclerosis, among other things. So, what makes arms and hands hurt and go numb while sleeping, as well as how we deal with it?
Symptoms
First, you need to explain what it means to feel numb. Does it mean that you have no feelings at all or that you have strange feelings like pins and needles? We also need to know where and when such signs show up. For example, symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome tend to happen at night, while sleeping, or when you move your hands a lot. Most of the time, it affects the fingertips and three fingers, but not the pinky finger.
Also, humans need to know if there are any other signs, like pain or lack of strength in the fingers or hands. For instance, will the suffering or lack of strength move to the neck or upper arm?
Also, we have to rule out some other health problems that could be making the nerve pressure worse. Diabetes or a thyroid that doesn’t work well can put the median nerve under pressure or lead to inflammation of the comparatively tiny nerves in the hands and feet. This can seriously cause numbness in hands while sleeping.
Common reasons for numbness in hands while sleeping
1. Carpal tunnel syndrome
Most of the time, pain and numbness in the hands at night are caused by carpal tunnel syndrome. When the median nerve gets pinched in the carpal tunnel, it usually only affects the thumb and two or three fingers. The little finger is usually spared. But when it gets worse, muscle pain and weakness happen.
Damage to the part of the nerves that is close to the skin.This branch gives a feeling to the bottom of the finger and two of the fingers on the back of the hand. Most of the time, pressure on the nerve is caused by an injury, like a broken wrist or an intravenous injury that hits the nerve.
Since the superficial branch only goes to the skin, muscles usually don’t get weak or waste away.
2. Cubital tunnel syndrome
Numbness in hands while sleeping : Most of the time, cubital tunnel syndrome is caused by clipping the ulnar nerve on the inside of the elbow. The ring and pinky fingers feel numb and like they have pins and needles. Also, the small muscles between both the fingers waste away and get weak.
3. Peripheral nerve damage
In addition to pinching or squeezing the nerves, the myelin that covers the nerves can become inflamed. This can cause a condition called peripheral nerve pain. Nerves that are inflamed can be caused by diabetes, an underactive thyroid, certain medications, vitamin deficiencies, or drinking too much alcohol.
Spine and brachial plexus are the reason why your hands go numb while you sleep.
Nerves that go to the hand travel up the shoulder to the brain and spinal cord. Before the nerve endings reach the brain stem, they come together to make the brachial plexus, which is a complex network of nerve groups.
Hand numbness can be caused by nerve damage in the brachial plexus or the brain stem. But since both structures have a lot of nerves in groups, the damage is likely to cause more than just tingling in the hand. We would have expected numbness over a larger area or weakness and loss of muscle in the hand, arm, or shoulder.
How to stop your hands from going numb while you sleep?
Most of the time, we order these tests to find out what is causing the numbness and how to treat it.
Nerve conduction studies and EMG test how fast nerves send messages and how fast muscles at the end of nerves contract. Also, it often tells us where the nerve messages are going wrong and why.
With an ultrasound, you can see where the nerves that go to the arm and hand go and how thick they are. Under an ultrasound, the median, ulnar, and radial nerves are all looked at. When nerves are pinched, the nerves get thicker right before they get stuck.If the numbness seems to be coming from the spinal cord and brain, an MRI might be required to rule out a tumor, inflammation, or a stroke.
Last, blood tests help rule out inflammation of the nerves. Most of the time, numbness in hands while sleeping. at night is caused by a torn ligament in the hand or arm, like carpal tunnel disease or cubital tunnel disorder. But you need to see a skilled doctor to make sure it’s a nerve impingement and rule out much more serious problems.
When you should call a doctor
When should you go to the doctor if your hands feel numb? If your hands feel numb for longer than a short time, you should go to the doctor right away. It may be a symbol of something very wrong with your health.
It’s particularly crucial to see a physician right away if any of following go along with your symptoms:
Both these areas of your body going numb
- Paralysis
- Confusion
- Dizziness
- slurred words
- Not being able to control your bowels or bladder
- Rash
What will your doctor do to figure out why your hands are tingling?
Your doctor will start your exam by taking a clinical history to find out how long you’ve been numb and if you have any other symptoms.
Then, to find out what’s wrong, he is able to do a number of tests, such as:
- Count the blood
- Tests for the thyroid
- Test results for vitamin levels
- Reports on toxicology
- Level checks of your electrolytes
There are a number of other tests to rule out serious causes like tumors and strokes.
These things are:
- Head and back scans with CT
- A head and spine MRI
- X-rays and an ultrasound of the neck vessels
- Angiogram to look inside the blood vessels to see if they are clogged.
- A lumbar puncture is done to look for problems with the nervous system.
- Electromyographic ( emg is a test to see how your nerves are working.
- Once your doctor figures out why your hands are going numb, he or she will figure out the best way to treat the underlying condition.
