One speaks of falling asleep feet or hands when they feel numb or lifeless. It is a strange feeling that almost everyone has experienced. The temporarily disabled feet or hand may cause you to fall if you try and start walking immediately. However, the cause of feet and hands falling asleep is not always harmless. Let’s find out why our feet and hands fall asleep.
Tingling hands or numbness in the feet, there can be different causes for such feelings, which are colloquially also called hands or feet fall asleep. But the main mechanism is always irritation of the nerves or nerve pathways that are responsible for the sensations.
Unfavorable, prolonged postures such as crossed legs can cause limbs to fall asleep. With hands, it is often an unfavorable sleeping posture that makes them numb. If the unfavorable posture is responsible for temporary deafness, it always arises asymmetrically, which means, only on the right or only on the left. The reason for this is that the pressure on individual nerves is too long. In principle, every part of the body could be affected, but most often it is the feet or hands.
Serious Illness Possible
If numbness occurs in individual limbs without maltreatment, this can also be a warning symptom of a serious illness. Circulatory disorders in the brain can manifest themselves as a temporary feeling disorder in the arm, leg, or face. Such a Transient Ischemic Attack is a harbinger of a stroke.
If both feet feel numb for a long time, there is often a so-called polyneuropathy behind it. Polyneuropathy is a condition where a person’s peripheral nerves are damaged. This is often due to problems related to metabolism, such as diabetes, but it can also result from excessive alcohol consumption.
About 300 different causes are responsible for triggering polyneuropathy, such as disorders of the immune system, vitamin B12 deficiency, tick-borne disease, or as a side effect of chemotherapy. People who constantly suffer from numbness in the limbs should go to a doctor to have the causes clarified.
Correct Posture Quickly
When triggered by incorrect posture, nerves are prevented from functioning normally by pressure. If the pressure persists, the ability to transmit impulses and information in the nerve is impaired. This shows up with a slight tingling. If you notice that, you should quickly change your posture and relieve the nerve.
This slight nerve bruise known as neurapraxia is reversible which means if you adopt a different posture, the pinched nerve will recover completely and the foot or hand will gradually wake up. However, most people find this process quite uncomfortable as it tingles with throbbing and pricking. Many then have the urge to feel again in their numb feet or hands more quickly by shaking, rubbing, or circling. This is fine and can definitely speed up limb waking up a bit.
You shouldn’t walk around with your feet asleep. If you have numb feet and walk around with them, there is an increased risk of injury. Since the feedback from the peripheral nerves does not work normally, it becomes unsafe.
Suggested Read: What Causes Loose Motions?
By the way, feet can also fall asleep while using them. This happens, for example, when jogging. Here too, the pressure is the cause. Poorly fitting shoes, clothes that are too tight, an incorrect load or posture, or an unfavorable movement pattern can put pressure on the nerves that care for the feet, which can make them numb over time. You should not continue to run but consult a specialist.