What happens when a limb is asleep for too long?

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I like to sleep on my side, and I occasionally lay on my arm when I do. After a while, my arm becomes numb, and shifting causes it to tingle. The tingling is usually more intense if I’ve laid on it longer.

What would happen if I laid on my arm for a really, really long time?

In: Biology

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

‘Too long’ isn’t specific enough. I’ve had patients who sustained permanent nerve damage from being immobile for (as I recall) about 48 hours. There’s often the soft tissue damage from the limb not being moved (pressure ulcers), and I suppose in extreme instances a person could lose parts or all of an extremity. The other immediate worry in all of these cases is kidney damage from rhabdomyolysis.

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