How you sleep really matters. If you're a side-sleeper, you've probably woken up to numb arms at some point in your life. "Awakening with numb arms is typically due to a temporary compression injury to a nerve," Dr. Anil Rama, MD, sleep doctor and adjunct clinical faculty at the Stanford Center for Sleep Sciences and Medicine, tells Bustle. "Side-sleepers are more prone to place pressure on one or more nerves in the arm they're sleeping on." Once you wake up and change positions, the pressure on the nerve is released and the sensation in your arm should return. According to Dr. Rama, it's an "annoying phenomenon," but usually not something to be overly concerned about.
