Waking Up with Numb or Tingling Hands: What It Really Means (Science Based)

Frequently drinking too much alcohol is also associated with alcoholic neuropathy which is characterized by tingling in both hands and feet. Dr. Carol DerSarkissian on WebMD says that alcoholism can damage nerve endings or cause vitamin deficiencies that result in hand paresthesia.5

Carpal tunnel syndrome
A common reason for pain and numbness in your arms and hands while sleeping is carpal tunnel syndrome. Continual pressure on the median nerve in your wrist will cause your palms to tingle in the morning.

According to research published in the journal Neurologia Medico-Chirurgica, the first sign of carpal tunnel syndrome is waking up with tingling hands. This may be accompanied with the hand feeling stiff in the morning. As carpal tunnel syndrome progresses, a person will experience hand tingling both during sleep and throughout the whole day.6

Neurologist Dr. Friedhelm Sandbrink says that carpal tunnel syndrome can also make the hands so painful during the night that it wakes a person from sleep.17

Many people with carpal tunnel syndrome say that their fingers feel like sausages even though no hand swelling is visible.6

Many doctors recommend gently shaking your hands and fingers in the morning to help restore proper feeling to your hand. For other ways to relieve carpal tunnel syndrome symptoms, please see my article on how to relieve forearm pain.

Ulnar nerve compression
Compression on the ulnar nerve in your hand can be a reason why your fingers tingle when you wake up.

The Journal of Chiropractic Medicine reports that tingling in the pinky and ring fingers becomes worse during the night. A person with ulnar nerve compression may also feel weakness in their arm along with burning pain. Researchers also mentioned that poor posture during the day can aggravate entrapped nerve symptoms at nighttime.7

Doctors from the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons report that numbness and tingling in the little finger and ring finger often occur when sleeping with a bent elbow.8

If you frequently wake up with tingling fingers in the morning, try bracing your arm so that you don’t bend it while you are sleeping.

Vitamin deficiencies
Various vitamin and nutrition deficiencies can be a reason for hand tingling or numbness in the morning. Nerve damage can sometimes occur if your body can’t absorb certain vitamins and minerals.

The journal Neurologic Clinics describes a condition called nutritional neuropathies. Research has found that lack of a healthy diet, gastrointestinal conditions, or pregnancy can all affect the nervous system. Among the vitamin deficiencies that could be responsible for tingling fingers in the morning are:9