If your hands are going numb while you sleep, that indicates that some nerve that goes from your neck to the hand is being compressed. Nerves have their own blood supply, so pressure on a nerve cuts off that blood supply and the nerve becomes starved for oxygen and nutrients and shuts down. If this happens for a short period of time, the nerve wakes up again once the pressure is removed. Continued pressure on the nerve can mean that it gets a little damaged with each episode. Months or years of numb hands at night can be a symptom of damaged nerves.
