Fingers falling asleep, while sleeping

[pulltab]

How come when I wake up in the middle of the night (or in the morning) my right hand pinky is always asleep. Always the same hand, same finger (the pinky) and very consistantly happens. Is this unusual or what may be causing it ? I do not sleep on my hands. My arms are usually bend at the elbow or just down by my waist resting.

I didn't know where to put this odd ball of a question. haha.

[Machaon]

One possibile reason could be Peripheral Neuropathy, which can be caused by either Diabetes or Insulin Resistance and can result in numbness, tingling and/or pain in the extremities.

[WYSIWYG]

If it is always and only the outer fingers, it could very well be carpal tunnel syndrome. My doc said that's a dead giveaway for the problem.

I'm prone to that myself, and I sleep with small pillows under my wrists to hold them at the correct angle. You can find out what angle that is by looking at the braces available to help people dealing with that.

~S~

[Lenin]

I agree with WYSIWIG, It sounds very much like carpal tunnel syndrome.
Go to a good drug store and find those wrist supports that look like half gloves and sleep with them on.
For milder cases they will hold the channel open enough to free the nerves from impiingement.

[NHone]

ITs probably the way you are sleeping. Nerves run in many different directions in the body. I had this problem, and there was really nothing wrong. My doctor (who is a D.O.) suggested putting a pillow between my legs while i sleep. This solved the problem. It changed the position i slept in just slightly. It removed the pressure that was being exerted on the nerves that control my fingers. You might try a few variations. You probably have you elbows resting on the bed or yourself. A variation would reduce the pressure on the elbows, which is where the nerve runs.