Numbness in Hands While Sleeping: Causes and Treatment

If you’ve ever woken up with numbness in your hands, you’re not alone. While it may seem scary to suddenly wake up with that pins and needles feeling, hand numbness from sleeping is more common than you may think. It also has a wide range of causes that can be as simple as sleeping in one position for too long to more complex roots like vitamin deficiencies or carpal tunnel syndrome.¹

Luckily, many cases of hand numbness while sleeping are temporary and will resolve upon waking up, but those with persistent hand numbness have treatment options to try.

Causes of Numbness in Hands While Sleeping

Are you waking up with numb hands, or as it’s known by its medical term, paresthesia?¹ Here are a few reasons why this might be happening and how you can find relief from nighttime numbness.

Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease that affects the peripheral nerves and can cause poor circulation in the body, potentially leading to hand numbness.¹ While diabetes more commonly causes numbness in the feet, some people experience circulation issues or nerve damage in their hands, which can lead to waking up with tingling hands or fingers.² This condition is known as diabetic neuropathy.

Treatment Options

The most effective way for people diagnosed with diabetes to prevent hand numbness while sleeping is to do their best to manage their condition, including staying on top of treatment and follow-up care.¹ 

Diabetes is usually managed through a combination of healthy eating, physical activity, taking oral medications, insulin injections or pumps, and monitoring your blood sugar.³ While diabetic neuropathy doesn’t have a cure, making positive lifestyle changes and taking medicine as prescribed may help keep hand numbness manageable.

Sleeping Positions

As a full-time side sleeper, I’ve woken up more times than I can count with hand numbness while sleeping. This is usually due to falling asleep on my arm, which compresses circulation. A few good shakes of my arm and waiting a couple of minutes will usually bring the feeling back, but that doesn’t mean this experience is totally stress-free.

Related: Best Mattresses for Side Sleepers

If you’re in the same boat, here’s how sleeping positions can cause hand numbness, according to Paul Daidone, MD, FASAM, medical director at True Self Recovery, who is double board-certified in internal medicine and addictionology.

“Sleeping positions can significantly impact the sensation in your hands during the night. When you fall asleep in a manner that squeezes some nerves more than necessary, for instance, the ulnar nerve, there is the potential of blocking blood supply as well as compressing this particular nerve, which results in a lack of sensation. This is also known as ‘pins and needles.’ Among such positions are keeping arms under the head or body and folding elbows tightly so that they obstruct neural paths, thereby disrupting usual sensory functions in hands.”

Dr. Paul Daidone

Treatment Options

The good news is that hand numbness from sleep positions is usually an easy fix, as long as you don’t mind adjusting how you sleep. “Do not sleep on your arms or with bent wrists,” Daidone recommends. “Instead, keep your arms straight and relaxed.” Something that helps me as a side sleeper is to avoid tucking my arm under the pillow since this causes me to lay on top of my arm and potentially wake up with a feeling of pins and needles in my hand.

Carpal Tunnel Syndrome

Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common condition that affects the nerves in the wrist.¹ This condition is especially common among people who use their hands and wrists repetitively for work, such as typists or people who work on a computer all day. Carpal tunnel syndrome can lead to painful hands, as well as a tingling feeling that can persist during sleep.

“Symptoms can worsen during sleep because lots of folks sleep with bent wrists that further stress this already squeezed median nerve,” Daidone says. “Numbness and unpleasant sensations occur after long hours of squeezing this bundle of nerves while people are awake.”

Treatment Options

Most mild cases of carpal tunnel syndrome can be managed by wearing a hand splint or brace, including at night.⁴ This helps keep compression off of the nerves in the wrist. Ice packs can be used to reduce any pain. Steroid injections can also help moderate or severe cases of carpal tunnel syndrome, especially if the pain or hand numbness is keeping you awake at night.

Peripheral Neuropathy (Nerve Damage)

Nerve damage in the hands, arms, or neck can lead to tingling down the arms and into the fingers.¹ A herniated disc can also put pressure on your spinal nerves, which triggers that numb sensation. Nerve damage can affect your ability to feel certain sensations, which is why your hands may feel numb, and this can happen both during the day and while you’re asleep.⁵

Treatment Options

Nerve damage can have many causes that range from injuries like accidents or falls to medical conditions like arthritis. The exact treatment options will vary based on the root cause, but some ways that nerve damage can be treated include oral medications or topical pain treatments. Physical therapy can also be used to improve hand numbness from peripheral neuropathy.⁵

Vitamin B-12 Deficiency

One lesser-known impact of a vitamin B-12 deficiency is hand numbness. “Vitamin B-12 is crucial for maintaining healthy nerve function,” Daidone says. “A deficiency in this essential vitamin can lead to nerve damage, manifesting as numbness or tingling in the hands and feet. During sleep, the symptoms can become more noticeable due to reduced blood circulation and prolonged periods of inactivity. Without adequate vitamin B-12, nerve cells struggle to function correctly, impairing sensation and the characteristic numbness experienced at night.”

Treatment Options

A blood test from your doctor can determine if you have a vitamin B-12 deficiency. Luckily, a deficiency can easily be treated with vitamin B-12 supplements, which are available online and at most major retail chains or grocery stores without a prescription.

Alcohol Use Disorder 

Abusing alcohol can lead to many negative health consequences, including hand numbness. “Alcoholic neuropathy is a consequence of drinking too much over a long period,” Daidone explains. “It damages the peripheral nerves. People with this condition may feel numbness, tingling, or pain in their hands and feet, particularly during the night when the body’s healing processes slow down and pinched nerves can further damage already compromised neural pathways. This can increase numbness even more.”

Treatment Options

Treating alcohol abuse is essential for not only your physical and mental health but also for those around you who may be impacted by the consequences. A 12-step group like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is free and can surround you with mutual support from others going through the same experience. Counseling can also be a great way to get down to the bottom of why this is happening and what you can do to curb or cease your alcohol intake.

Other Causes of Numbness in the Hands During the Night

According to the Mayo Clinic, the following conditions may also cause hand numbness.² However, it’s important to note that some of these conditions aren’t as known as others and may have many other symptoms other than nighttime hand numbness.

• Cervical (Neck) Spondylosis
• Ganglion Cyst
• Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS)
• Chemotherapy and Other Medications
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Hypothyroidism
• Syphilis
• HIV and Aids
• SJögren’s Syndrome
• Guillain-Barré Syndrome
• Lupus
• Lyme Disease
• Raynaud’s Phenomenon
• Ulnar Nerve Compression
• Median Nerve Compression
• Radial Nerve Compression

Tips for Reducing Numbness at Night

• Exercise and stretches: Exercise and stretching can be a great way to improve the circulation and mobility of your hands, especially if hand numbness is due to neuropathy. However, first check with your doctor if you have an injury, since exercise may make some injuries worse. “Regular physical activity can enhance general blood flow as well as nerve functioning, which may, in turn, reduce nighttime symptoms,” Daidone says.

• Wristguards: Wristguards are especially helpful for people with carpal tunnel syndrome since they help immobilize your wrists and reduce compression of wrist nerves. You can also sleep in a wristguard if hand numbness is keeping you awake at night.

• Vitamin B-12 supplements: Those with a vitamin B-12 deficiency can take supplements to help promote healthy nerve function. This may help reduce nighttime hand numbness.

• Hydration and diet: Staying hydrated and maintaining a healthy diet is essential for the entire body, including nerve function. Keeping a diabetes-friendly diet is also an important part of a diabetes management plan and may help reduce diabetic neuropathy.³

• Oral medication: Various medical conditions that cause hand numbness like arthritis or neuropathy may be treated with oral medication or topical creams like lidocaine. Talk to your doctor to see if over-the-counter or prescription medication may help you sleep better at night.

• Surgery: More serious cases of nerve damage or carpal tunnel syndrome can be corrected with surgery, especially if hand numbness just won’t budge.

• Try a new sleeping position: Sleeping on your arms or keeping your elbows tightly folded can compress the nerves, leading to hand numbness. Sleeping in a different position, such as on your back, can prevent this from happening. Side sleepers can also try sleeping with their arms straight and relaxed. Learn more about the best sleeping positions here.