Home Blogs Causes of Numbness In Fingers: Bad Sleeping Posture or Poor Circulation
Causes of Numbness In Fingers: Bad Sleeping Posture or Poor Circulation
By
Patricia | May 20, 2009
Do you wake up in the morning with a numbness or tingling sensation in your hands, feet or toes on a regular basis? This could be a simple case of bad circulation after waking up. However, if there is numbness accompanied by soreness when you try to stretch your fingers, it could be a matter of concern. There are a number of medical conditions that can cause numbness in your fingers, including carpal tunnel syndrome, diabetic neuropathy, multiple sclerosis, and nerve injuries. Consult your doctor if you regularly experience numbness in fingers when sleeping as also otherwise. It is also necessary to identify the fingers that tend to tingle so that your condition can be diagnosed correctly.
There are a number of things that could be causing your fingers to become numb; it could be any of the following.
- Deficiency of vitamin B12; other vitamin deficiencies could also cause tingling
- Abnormal levels of calcium, sodium or potassium in your system
- Animal bites
- Bad sleeping posture
- A broken finger, that’s affecting a nerve
- Certain medications can also cause numbness in your fingers
- Damage to your nerves due to excessive consumption of alcohol, smoking, or lead poisoning
- Insect, mite, tick, or spider bites
- If you experience injury to a particular nerve either in your neck or back. If a nerve is injured in your neck, it could cause to feel a tingling or numb sensation in your hand or arm, while a lower back injury would mean that you could experience numbness or tingling along the back of your leg
- Maintaining the same sitting or standing posture for a long period of time
- Poor blood circulation due to either frostbite or atherosclerosis
- Pressure on nerves on the periphery due to blood vessels that are enlarged, infections, scar tissues, or tumors
- Pressure on the spinal nerves in cases such as a herniated disk
- Radiation therapy
- Seafood toxins
- Shingles or herpes zoster infection
- Underlying medical conditions like a block in the brain and carpal tunnel syndrome that is due to extra pressure on a nerve present in the wrist. Besides this conditions like diabetes, diabetic neuropathy, hyperthyroidism, Raynaud’s phenomenon, migraines, neuroma, seizures, multiple sclerosis, peripheral neuropathy, stroke, transverse myelitis, underactive thyroid, or transient ischemic attack, which is also known as a mini stroke.
Symptoms:
- Twitching of the arm and hand
- Fingers going cold
- Burning sensation
- Pain in your arm, hand or finger
- Amplified tingling or numbness in your fingers while writing or typing
- Rashes and itchy sensations
- Neck pain
- Spasms of the muscle
- Pins and needles
- Over sensitivity to touch
In certain cases, your finger going numb could arise along with life-threatening conditions that need to be diagnosed immediately. If you notice any of these symptoms along with finger numbness call 911 or your physician immediately.
- Disorientation and loss of consciousness for a brief instance
- Breathing difficulty
- Difficulty to walk
- Giddiness
- Finger going numb, following an injury to the back, head or neck
- Paralysis
- Blurry vision or loss of vision
- Slurring while speaking
- Weakness
Do not ignore any of these symptoms, as it could lead to complications and in serious cases, death.
Complications:
Numb fingers can be cured if you seek immediate medical attention, but ignoring it over a long period of time could put you at a higher risk of certain complications. These complications include amputation, disability or paralysis in very severe cases, chronic pain due to constant use of the affected nerve, weakened strength in the hand and arm, and loss of sensation permanently in your arm. These are rare occurrences, but meet your doctor to make sure that you do not put yourself at risk.