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Does my arm take long term damage if it falls asleep every third night? (lemmy.world)

submitted 7 months ago by Grogon@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

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My right arm is completly numb and I panic out of my bed sometimes. The reason is that I fall asleep on my shoulder and sometimes it takes a minute til it functions again.

Last night I fell asleep again and woke up and it it took longer than usual to get it back to moving. I started crying and was totally panic mode.

Is this something that can cause long term issues if this happens frequently or should I change the way I sleep? Can I ignore it?

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[-] Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world 17 points 7 months ago

Surgical tech here (bottom of the medical food chain, so take that for what it's worth [not shit]). Adding to the chorus of "ASK YOUR DOCTOR!!!" bc words from anonymous internet strangers are trash.

...but if it instills a sense of urgency: I've helped with a couple of arm amputations from patients falling asleep on them and cutting off blood circulation to the extent that the tissue dies. Iirc, both of those involved longer-than-normal periods of sleeping on it due to drugs - unsure if there's any risk of that from a normal sleep schedule. But yeah, the various chunks that make up you all need oxygen to do their thing; depriving those chunks of oxygen generally leads to not-so-great outcomes.

[-] Silentiea@lemm.ee 1 points 7 months ago

I was under the impression that limbs "falling asleep" was more of a nerve thing and not a circulation thing. Is that not true?

[-] Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

Nerves don't like pressure, so that'll definitely irritate them.

Cutting off blood and suddenly restoring it later can cause a similar sensation.

Actual tissue death though is gonna be from blood loss.

this post was submitted on 02 Apr 2024

118 points (97.6% liked)

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