Have you ever slept on your arm and wake up to a numb, dead arm? While in most cases, the numbness will go away after a few minutes after waking up, a long-term habit of sleeping with your arm underneath your head could potentially cause damages to the nerves in your arm.
Recently, a woman from Harbin, China had to undergo a surgery as the nerves in her left arm were damaged. This was due to her frequently sleeping with her left arm supporting her head.
According to Weibo, 28-year-old Zhang would often take a nap at her office desk during her one-hour lunch break. Sometimes, she slept for more than hour in the position and later, found her arm feeling sore and numb
However, she was not really concerned with the numbness as it always went away after a good stretch. Unfortunately, the numbness did not get away one day.
It happened three months ago when Zhang had her usual nap at her desk. She slept with her arm underneath her head for an hour and woke up to an unusual numbness in her left arm.
She even had difficulties to pick up things with her left arm afterwards so she went to see the doctor for a diagnosis. It was at that moment when she found out that the nerves in her left arm were damaged.
“After examination, we discovered that Zhang’s radial nerves have been blocked because her left arm was subjected to pressure over a long time,” an orthopaedic specialist said
Radial nerves are responsible in wrist and finger movement control and pressuring them for a long period of time can cause the nerves to become swollen which will lead to finger numbness and weakening of the wrist
If nerve damages are detected early, it can still be rectified. However, there was nothing could be done to reverse the damages in Zhang’s case except with a surgery.
Other than nerve damage, sleeping on your arm can also cause injuries to your eyes, complications to your digestive system and it can even limit the blood flow to the brain!
So, why not kick this bad habit for good before it is too late! In the meantime, why not spread this reminder to your friends and your family so they too are aware of the danger of sleeping on their arm.
Source: Oriental Daily | World of Buzz
