Have you ever had a burning or tingling sensation in your arm or hand startle you to sleep? This numbness, also known as sensory abnormalities or arm numbness, is typically brought on by nerve compression, poor circulation, or other underlying factors. Most people occasionally deal with it, but when it keeps us up at night, it becomes a serious issue.
There are steps you can take to minimize the effects and stop poor circulation from disrupting your sleep, even though it can be brought on by a variety of health issues, including diabetes, obesity, or certain heart conditions. So instead of giving up on yourself just because you’re exhausted, consider these useful suggestions!
Why Your Circulation is Poor While Sleeping?
Poor circulation while sleeping can be caused by plaque buildup, blood clots, or constrictions in the blood vessels. Your body finds it challenging to send blood to every part of your body efficiently when obstacles or congested areas slow blood flow.
Conditions that reduce your blood flow can give you bad circulation when sleeping, such as:
- Smoking: Your risk of developing atherosclerosis is increased when chemicals harm your blood vessels.
- Varicose veins: Your veins’ walls and valves may become damaged if your blood pressure increases. Blood can flow incorrectly inside varicose veins.
- Peripheral artery disease: The amount of blood that reaches your legs and feet is reduced by plaque in your peripheral arteries.
- Diabetes: Your blood vessels can suffer if you have an excessive amount of glucose in it.
- Deep vein thrombosis: Blood flow is decreased in your leg as a result of your body’s blood clotting process.
- Obesity: Obesity increases your risk for health issues like diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol, all of which slow down blood flow.
- High blood pressure: Blood vessel walls can become weakened when it is pushed against them vigorously. As a result, blood cannot flow through them as easily.
Read more: What Causes Poor Circulation: How to Fix It? – Elder VIP
How to Improve Circulation in Arms While Sleeping?
You may think that sleeping with numb arms is something you have to put up with, but there are ways to prevent you from often waking up with dead arms, and we’ll introduce you to each of them!
Wearing Wrist Guards
Wearing a wrist guard is a really helpful technique, especially if you have carpal tunnel syndrome, type all day at work, or frequently perform repetitive tasks. You might think it’s too simple.
Wrist guards keep your wrists straight while you sleep, stabilizing them and easing any pressure that might be placed on the median nerve. Therefore, by wearing one while you sleep, you will experience less tingling and get more rest. To relieve pressure on the nerve and encourage circulation while you sleep, you can also wear it while performing repetitive tasks during the day.
Stretch Arms
Simple stretches can also be used to get your arms’ blood flowing if you don’t have time for an entire exercise routine. Stretching will help your body carry oxygen and white blood cells in and out; you can even do it while sitting down rather than standing up straight. Yoga is particularly beneficial because it helps calm your mind and your body, as well as enhance circulation, but other stretches you can do include:
- Leg lifts
- Ankle pumps
- Leg elevation against a wall
- Sit-to-stand reps
- Squats
- Ankle rotations as you sit
Fling Your Arms
Exercise is necessary to keep your blood flowing and to stimulate your nerves because a numb arm during sleep is typically caused by cut-off blood flow. Regular exercise improves blood flow throughout your entire body, not just your arms, and is highly beneficial when done right after waking up.
Additionally, you’ll be stretching your bones and muscles, which is good for circulation. You can work on your posture or strength, stretch your hands and wrists, or practice some light yoga. Your body and mind will unwind if you also practice guided meditation and mindfulness.
Massage
Massaging your arms while you sleep is very effective if you’ve ever experienced tingling or pain there. This is so that your body can relax because massage causes a vascular response. Not only does it reduce muscle pain, but it also improves blood flow for several days afterward. Therefore, your entire body will benefit from improved circulation even if you only massage one area.
Intake Vitamin B
A vitamin B deficiency is another underlying factor in dead arms. Therefore, even if you have carpal tunnel syndrome, increasing your vitamin B intake can help relieve your symptoms and improve circulation. Thankfully, you don’t have to come up with elaborate recipes, just start adding some of these foods into your diet:
- Eggs
- Dairy products
- Citrus fruits, bananas, or avocadoes
- Whole-grain foods like mullet, brown rice, and barley
- Red meat and fish
- Leafy vegetables like broccoli or spinach
- Beans
- Nuts like almonds
- Seeds like pumpkin or sunflower seeds
Although eating more of these foods won’t make your symptoms go away, it will make you feel better.
Right Positions
For a variety of reasons, how you sleep is crucial. However, the most important of these causes is how your sleep position affects your blood circulation. Your circulation and sleep quality may be harmed if you sleep with your arms above your head or with your neck and spine out of alignment.
By shifting positions, you can reduce the risk of restricting blood flow and compressing your lungs or other organs. Instead, try:
- Lie on your left side while you sleep to facilitate blood flow to and around your heart.
- Instead of putting your arms behind or under your head, keep them at your sides.
- ensuring that your pillow supports your neck and spine and maintains their neutral alignment.
Final Thoughts
Sleeping and experiencing numbness in your arms? Your poor blood circulation might be the cause of that. You can improve the circulation in your arms while you sleep by implementing some of the aforementioned suggestions, such as increasing your vitamin intake or doing stretching exercises.
FAQs
What Are the Symptoms of Poor Blood Circulation While Sleeping?
Poor circulation while sleeping is responsible for a variety of undesirable outcomes, ranging from mild discomfort and numbness to swelling (edema), muscle cramps, and pain in the hands and feet.
What Does Poor Circulation in Arms Look Like?
Your extremities’ temperatures will change if blood flow isn’t functioning normally. The numbness is brought on by the restricted blood flow, and swelling is brought on by the blood’s improper return to the heart. Your skin might also appear pale or blue because of a lack of blood flow.
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