Sometimes I wake up with my arm in a weird position so my nerve is pinched and my arm is asleep. Knowing I slept with my nerve pinched for probably a good amount of time makes me squeamish. Does this actually hurt the nerve in any way.
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It would appear that it can. There is something called Saturday Night Palsy aka Radial Neuropathy which occurs from prolonged, direct pressure onto the upper arm or armpit by an object or surface. Dave Mustaine from Megadeth had this happen which left him unable to grasp or even make a fist with his left hand.
Not a doctor but ima go with yes because…
So when it’s bed time, I go to sleep on my stomach, arms around my pillow. When I wake up, my arms are… somewhere around me and they feel as if the ulnar nerve was pinched the whole night. Now I have to learn to sleep on my side and back because while I can spread my fingers, I can’t bring them together and my grip strength is very weak.
The ulnar nerve is very close to the surface, responsible for the 4th and 5th digits (ring and pinky fingers), and easy to pinch, you might be sleeping on it and should probably learn to sleep on your side or back
Yes! It happened to me actually, now I have to sleep with my left arm in a hard brace. If it’s a recurring issue for you and you’re worried about long term damage I definitely recommend getting an ulnar nerve brace for preemptive care before permanent damage happens.
how often is sometimes? it happens to me too (and I am sure most people) but once in a while every few months is probably not any big deal, just like a crick in your neck from a bad sleeping position bone wise isn’t a big deal every once in a while.
However bad sleeping posture does cause all sorts of health problems in general, and pinched nerves are no exceptions. So if your sometimes is actually more frequently, it would never hurt to get preventative care or better yet see if its possible to address the source and find a sleeping position that doesn’t do that. It may feel unnatural at first but it is possible to change the way you sleep I used to sleep curled up on my side as a child but as an adult it was very uncomfortable and I trained myself to sleep on my back. At first it was not fun but now I strongly prefer it and its very comfortable to wake up with no pain 🙂
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