Can you remember any time you woke up with one of your arms falling asleep in the night? Arm sleep issues are actually quite frequent and they cause temporary paralysis or weakness in the arm. And you can’t move the arm at all. But what is really going on, and what brings it about?
Understanding Arm Sleep
Arm sleep is common, let alone annoying. A lot of people get this pins and needles sensation. It is common when you have your arm or side resting on a hard surface while sleeping.
In many instances, you find that when you wake up at night and turn the other side, your arm feels quite different or even rigid. This feeling commonly gets worse for a while then subsides because the arm feels like it woke up.
What Causes Arm Sleep?
The main cause behind formation of arm sleep is the pressure. The pressure is exerted on the arm for an unusually long period during sleeping when the arm is placed behind the head.
In effect when your arm is compressed in this way, all signals that should pass from your brain to your arm or vice versa are impeded.
In other words, the brain temporarily just disconnects from that part of the body.
This pressure can also lower circulation by constricting the blood vessels so that the arm’s cells do not receive the oxygen and nutrients they need.
If cells fail to get these basic requirements, then they are incapable of providing adequate functioning; the feelings related to arm sleep.
What does it mean for you that Arm Sleep?
These sensations include feelings of numbness, tingling, or awkwardness are your body telling you that you stopped moving a while ago.
Just sleeping on one’s arm is not dangerous at all, although injuries could result in cases where the limb has been compressed to the extent that blood flow is prevented for long.
More often, however, this feeling is just a signal that you should change your position during sleep.
That is, when the arm starts regaining feeling, initially, you will experience distinct tingling, then the brief appearance of the burning sensation.
This occurs as the nerve fibres respond positively and behave as they are expected to do so within a few moments of time.
Preventing Arm Sleep Issues
To cut down on the occasions that you find yourself sleeping on your arms, there is a product known as the side sleeper pillow. These pillows accept the load from the arms and shoulders thus assisting in correct body positioning.
Memory foam side sleepers are especially famous because they conform to your body shape, meaning better spinal alignment and, therefore, presumably, a reduced likelihood of arm sleep.
There are multitudes of side sleeper pillows on the market available at pocket-friendly prices hence it is a very small price to pay to take the necessary step towards improving on the quality of your sleep.
You can get them at most retail outlets or even order online. A side sleeper pillow may provide the relief you desire, and offer a much better form of sleep than arm sleep without all the bother!
