Brookej

Hi Lawrence,

Who told you that you slept wrong? Numbness caused by pressure on a nerve because you were sleeping on your arm should be temporary and should resolve in a short period of time after relieving the pressure. Numbness occuring during the day could be caused by a variety of reasons. There are several major nerves that run through the arm and pressure on these nerves can be caused by various repetitive activities that inflame the nerves. Inflamed and swollen tendons can also put pressure on the nerves since the nerves and tendons are contained within the same tunnels. Think of it like a thick, insulated, grounded cord. There are 3 wires inside there and if one of those wires somehow got thicker, then there would be increased pressure on the other 2 wires. That's the best I can do with an analogy!

Anyway, you might want to consider seeing a Dr. to try to sort this out. Mabey a referral to a hand surgery specialist. They can try various conservative treatments such as NSAIDS and night splints to try to decrease the inflamation which would decrease the pain and numbness. The numbness isn't normal and especially when it occurs during the day.

I am in the process of deciding whether I need to have my hands evaluated by my hand surgeon at this time. I have been known to over-react to little things in the past and to try to ignore important things so I might just decide to leave it up to my Dr. to advise me. I had surgery on my left hand last fall for severe OA in my thumb CMC joint. The pain is what got me to the Dr. to begin with and conservative treatments failed. I tried to put up with the pain for 3 and 1/2 years before I finally went to the Dr. My hand was getting progressively more painful and weaker. OA progresses anyway so waiting did not change the end result for me. I might have just gotten some pain relief in the earlier stages before I needed surgery if I had gone to the Dr. earlier. The surgery was a complete success - I am painfree and my hand is strong again.

I have been noticing that I tend to get tendon and possible nerve inflamation for the past few years. Right shoulder pain going on for several years (but mainly just at night), tennis elbow on the right for 1 and 1/2 years, and numbness and tingling sensations in the right wrist and thumb area for several years. I never told my hand surgeon about any of this on the right, I just wanted relief for the pain on the left and that is what I went to see him for. A few weeks ago I started noticing numbness of my left ring and pinky fingers. No pain, just numbness. It hasn't let up yet and I was just going to let it slide since it doesn't hurt but I started getting concerned about nerve damage and possible loss of function after reading the threads on the CTS forum. The nerves do transmit impulses to the muscles which is what helps us to use our hands. My left hand got weak when I was having the OA pain because I was using it less due to the pain and my muscles weakened. Once I recovered from the surgery and the post-op pain, I regained all of my strength because I started using my hand again and regained my muscle strength. If I get nerve damage because of pressure on the nerves then that might not be the case.

I have been putting off addressing these issues because of fear of some underlying problem I don't want to know about but with this new numbness I have developed, I think it is time to fess up, tell all! My problems aren't painful yet but they are getting kind of scary. Well, those are my thoughts. I didn't mean to write a book but I usually do when I post. Please keep in touch and let me know what you decide to do and what you find out. I'll do the same and I will try not to be so long-winded next time! LOL! Take care and good luck!

Brooke