I like to sleep on my side, and I occasionally lay on my arm when I do. After a while, my arm becomes numb, and shifting causes it to tingle. The tingling is usually more intense if I’ve laid on it longer.
What would happen if I laid on my arm for a really, really long time?
In: Biology
It is due to compression or irritation of nerves, paresthesia.
If your arm wasnt getting blood or oxygen while you slept, that tissue would die instead of tingle.
[deleted]
‘Too long’ isn’t specific enough. I’ve had patients who sustained permanent nerve damage from being immobile for (as I recall) about 48 hours. There’s often the soft tissue damage from the limb not being moved (pressure ulcers), and I suppose in extreme instances a person could lose parts or all of an extremity. The other immediate worry in all of these cases is kidney damage from rhabdomyolysis.
Latest Answers