Hand numbness

Why Are My Hands Numb When I Wake Up and How Can I Treat This?

Numb hands can be caused by certain health conditions, sleeping positions, medications, and nutrient deficiencies. If numbness persists, a doctor can help determine the cause and best course of treatment.
Sleeping in a position that puts pressure on your arm or hand is a common cause of numbness and a pins and needles sensation that soon resolves after waking and repositioning, but it isn’t the only possibility.

Cervical (neck) spondylosis

Cervical spondylosis is commonly caused by everyday wear and tear to the spinal disks in your neck with age.


This can cause signs of osteoarthritis, such as bone spurs, and bulging disks. Both can narrow the space in your cervical spine and place pressure on a nerve root or spinal cord, causing numbness and tingling in your arms and hands. Cervical spondylosis can also cause numbness in the legs and feet, as well as neck pain and stiffness.

Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS)

TOS is a group of disorders that develop when nerves or blood vessels in the lower neck and upper chest area are irritated, injured, or compressed.
Numbness in the forearm, hand, and fingers are common symptoms of nerve compression, which can also cause pain in parts of your neck, shoulder, arm, or hand.

Peripheral neuropathy (nerve damage)

Peripheral neuropathy refers to several conditions that involve damage to your peripheral nervous system, which receives and sends signals between your central nervous system and the rest of your body.

There are more than 100 types of peripheral neuropathy and symptoms depend on the nerves affected. Symptoms can include:

• tingling and numbness
• sharp, stabbing pains
• buzzing sensation

Sleeping posture

Pressure on your hands from your sleeping posture is a likely cause of waking up with numb hands. It can happen when you sleep on your arm or hand or in a position that puts pressure on a nerve. The temporary lack of blood flow can cause numbness or pins and needles.

Changing your sleep position and using the wooden pillow by Unusually Usual is typically enough to relieve your symptoms.

How do I stop my hands from going numb when I sleep?

Treatment for hand numbness depends on the cause. You may not need any treatment if your numbness is occasional and improves once you change sleeping positions.

Radiating pain or numbness. Your neck pain may radiate to your head, trunk, shoulder, and arms. If your neck pain involves the compression of a nerve, you may feel numbness, tingling, or weakness in either of your arms or hands. Neck pain that is from a pinched nerve may feel like a burning or sharp pain that starts at the neck and travels down the arm.