Britt Jones
Do you get tingling or numb arms when you fall asleep on it? Something might be going on.
Sleeping doesn’t always happen in the most comfortable position.
Sometimes you’re in the foetal position, sprawled across the bed, sitting slumped in a chair, leaning on your desk or even standing up.
No word of a lie, my brother once fell asleep standing in the shower, so I know it can be done.
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But normally, you’ll wake up with a few aches and pains which disappear over the course of the day.
Sometimes, you might even get a painful and stiff neck for more than a day, but it’s nothing to be worried about.
However, if you find that your arm is often numb or tingling when you sleep on it, you might have some troubles in your body.
According to Dan Ginader, a Sports and Dance focused Doctor of Physical Therapy with Mims Method PT, it could be an issue with your thoracic outlet.
Before you freak out, it’s nothing crazy.
According to the doc, the thoracic is a ‘superhighway’ of veins, arteries and nerves in the body which is located between the shoulder and the neck.
It’s where your arm connects to your torso, so there’s a lot going on in that region.
Ginader shared that if you’re having a numb arm due to sleeping, typing at your desk or even scrolling on your phone, it could be a sign that there’s a problem with the outlet.
However, it’s an easy fix.
He shared on Instagram that compression caused by the scalene muscle, your first rib and your pec minor muscle, can lead to frequent numbness.
To ease it, there are a few exercises you can do it release the compression.
If the cause is any of the first culprits, you can use a towel and wrap it around your shoulder, as close to the neck as possible and hold it tight as you sit up straight and move your ear towards your shoulder and then in the opposite direction.
Repeat this between 10 and 15 times.
Next, you could stand in a doorway with one hand on the inside of the wall and your other placed on your chest as you stretch and turn your head away from the side where your hand is.
This is for your pec minor and if you repeat it three times and hold it for 20 seconds each.
According to John Hopkins Medicine: “The thoracic outlet is the ring formed by the top ribs, just below the collarbone. Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) occurs when nerves or blood vessels are compressed by the rib, collarbone or neck muscles at the top of the outlet.”
Now, the symptoms of Neurogenic Thoracic Outlet Syndrome include pain or weakness in the shoulder and arm, tingling or discomfort in the fingers, an arm that tires quickly or atrophy which is the shrinking and weakness of the pad of the thumb, or the muscle of the palm that leads to the thumb.
While ‘symptoms may come and go’ they can be made worse when ‘arms are held up’.
If it’s happening often and the exercises aren’t helping, it’s best to see a professional.