There will be an element of muscle wastage if it's left on for a long time, around two weeks and wastage can occur noticeably without use.
Did you read the link I put in?
You may have slightly damaged the nerve by pinching or posture or lack of blood flow when the wrist was bent and caused inflammation to the median nerve?
Was your head resting on the inside of your hand or was the the wrist bent over and your head was on the outside of the wrist/arm? I am trying to visualise your head and hand position.
If it was in the palm of your hand pushing down on the wrist, it could be the median nerve inflamed in the carpal tunnel.
If it was on the outside of your wrist on the hand was bent over it is most likely the tendon swollen.
Ice and rest/sling for a couple of days, and avoid using that hand for heavy lifting for a few days.
Not a doctor, please seek advice if it get worse and all that.
I slept with hand braces for about 3 years until I corrected my sleep posture.
I'd clench my fists and shove the back of my wrists into my eye sockets when I slept.
Led to my wrists being folded over about 90% of the night and a crippling pain in the base of my palm on a regular basis.
You pinched a nerve. They don't repair easily.
Lidocaine patches will ease the pain, but to get feeling back you need to wear a wrist brace for a while.
Don't let them snip-snip anything. My mother found out the hard way that any surgery or injections last maybe 3 months tops and you're back in that revolving door.
Ice is your best bet. Freeze a sponge and wrap it around your wrist.
If you want something topical to put on it, use some DMSO. Go light at first, you might have a bad reaction past the expected itch it causes.
Origin: A colorless, sulfur-containing organic by-product of wood pulp processing.
Claims: Relieves pain and inflammation, improves joint mobility in osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and scleroderma, and manages amyloidosis (excessive build-up of protein in organs as seen in RA). Increases blood flow to skin.
If you want the "industrial" stuff that they use for race horses then go to Tractor Supply Co. and buy some horse-grade DMSO for cheap. Water it down with distilled water, though. That stuff is potent as hell.
If it's good enough for multi-million dollar race horses, it should be good enough for you.
Pain comes on when nerves reattach or come back online, not at the onset when they're pinched.
The healing phase is where the most pain occurs, as your body tries to flood the nerves with blood and fluff them back up into sending signals. As they come online, you feel the stimulation of each cell "gasping for breath."
Ice slows the healing process down so that only a bit of blood can come and fluff up the nerves. This will help steadily bring cells back online and prevent scarring where any inflammation has occurred. Scarring doesn't heal, so that's why ice is the best medicine at the moment. Inflammation is the biggest cause of the scarring, because it's a flood of cells adding too much pressure to the critical point. It's a too many cooks in the kitchen situation, where in the desperation to do their job they just end up getting in the way.
A light vibration is also helpful. Avoid stretches for the moment, as those can actually reverse any healing you've already been through. You need to gently wiggle cells into the right place for them to do their work instead of yank them around and hope they land where they're supposed to. Get one of those woman pleaser vibrators and rest your wrist on the lowest setting.
Bounce between heat and cold, but not too frequently. Heat to let blood come in and cold to slow the healing down so it doesn't scar.
DMSO - miracle stuff. I use it on my chronic pain - only thing that resulted in joint healing and RA reduction to the point of no chronic pain anymore. Just if I overdo it working out, which is pretty normal. Can't say enough good about DMSO. Just rub it on like a liniment since it is a clear liquid. Be generous all around the area in a wide radius.
I had bad carpal tunnel from years of typing. Mycarpaltunnel.com saved me from needing surgery. It's disposable bandages you wear overnight to slowly stretch the tunnel out. Easy, painless and really works. I only wore them for a couple weeks but I'm sure everyone is different.
I have no financial stake in that company but think everyone should know about this.
Thanks, I'll give them a try. I do a lot of gardening which causes bad flare-ups, anti-inflammatory oils help but if this is a permanent solution, then its worth a try.
The carpal tunnel may need a targeted anti inflammatory treatment.
I have used fresh ground up comfrey leaves as a poultice, add a lavender flowers, turmeric essential oil and a drop of fresh Solomon seal root juices. Wrap it onto the shoulder, elbow and wrist joints. I’d leave that on overnight.
CTS is a mostly inflammatory issue - delayed/stalled healing r/t unresolved, recurring inflammation, I agree. Any herbal supplement that modulates (reduces) inflammation is good. Ashwaganda, bromelain, quercetin, C60 in the oil of your choice - olive, avocado, hemp. Hemp oil has very good anti-inflammatory properties taken orally.
I’d add St. John’s wort oil. It works on nerve pain for many people. I would suggest taking lion’s mane mushroom complex by Paul Stamets. If you can buy some fresh, even better! It takes amazing. You can also take SJW as a dried herb capsule with warm tea.
My go to healing herbs are comfrey leaves, burdock root and nettles. Learn how to handle them and you will reap great benefits.
Can you give a good source or book to learn how to make a poultices, recipes, drying and dosages?
Ran thru a patch of stinging nettles as a kid…yikes…unpleasant to say the least. SN are crazy good for healing but that memory is still crystal clear and harvesting/using the stuff makes me nervous.
You got way better advice on this thread than I can give; I know nothing about the topic.
However, in solidarity I just had this happen to me two weeks ago. Slept wrong and woke up with severe pain and immobility. Could not use the hand at all. Reading the advice here I definitely could have done more -I did nothing except use an old wrist brace I had, mostly to remind myself to rest. That said, it cleared up in 3 or 4 days without seeing a doctor.
Obviously not advice, just some pep talk. Keep an eye on it obviously, but I hope this helps some.
With unilateral weakness/numbness you should first rule out more serious causes like a stroke or ministroke. This should be done by a medical professional, CT scan, etc. Also, I didn't see mention of your vaccine status, which we've seen can cause similar symptoms. Just my two cents as a retired Critical Care RN.
Just saying here that when I went to an upper-cervical chiro (specializes in upper two vertabrae, they are "Palmer Specific or Blair technique) it relieved pressure on my brain stem (all your nerves pass through there and pressure affects the body part the nerves go to) and solved so many issues for me. It is all, always, about nerves affecting function of a body part. That is pretty crazy that one hour of pressure on a nerve point in your hand did this much to your hand. I suspect it is a wrist issue. My first thought is always always.. soak fifteen minutes in hot as you can stand water with a strong size dose of epsom salts, to get that magnesium into you through the skin. Do that as your med, and rub on arnica. friction matters, with the arnica. get it rubbed in entirely. just don't press hard. Don't take any ibuprophen for a couple days, let it be inflamed if you body wants to do that, as it is what heals. If it is still inflamed (hurting) in a week try the ibuprophen. I would not use the diluted dmso just yet. wait a couple days. And be aware that anything else you have on your skin, dmso will take it into your injury point. So, arnica being taken in, that would be useful. I have used dmso. Please don't stress too much over this, you make it worse. Mental pictures and words of how it is all back to normal and feeling fine, are very powerful. Every word you say outloud, or to yourself, is important. Make them positive not fearful.
There are a lot of replies but I would get a drug store wrist splint and wear it as much as you can, especially at night. I have a wrist issue from an old injury and wake up a lot at night with numbness in fingers and the splint helps a lot at night. You probably irritated a nerve. It needs a bit of rest, imho. I would follow up with a dr when you can but my gut tells me some time and rest will be all it needs.
I would suggest seeing a chiropractor, preferably someone that practices the "activator" method (long story, but mild yet effective manipulation technique). The bones being out of alignment can lead to many nerve-related problems. It is quite possible that the weight of your head and the laxity of your sleeping hand combined to pinch a nerve. He (or she) would also be in a position to direct you to other help.
I once passed out on a plane after taking some benadryl and a whole flight to Spain I had leaned on my bent wrist.
Couldn't do anything with my hand for a week, I was able to grab things after a week but had very little strength and struggled to turn a door know. If I held a shot glass, I needed my other hand or it would spill.
Slowly it got better and by a month I was back 100% or so. Doctor had told me to wait it out as I likely pinched a nerve and it had to heal.
It sounds to me like you have inflamed the tendons on the wrist by leaning on it and bending it under pressure for a long period of time. Any discolouration anywhere on the hand?
And you can move your fingers yes.
I'm not a Dr and this ain't medical advice, but I would ice the area for a bit, maybe support it in a sling for a day or so and allow any swelling that has occurred to go down. The symptoms do sound like tendonitis, read more here.
https://www.healthline.com/health/tendonitis-of-wrist
Sounds like you can try RICE first for a sprain - rest, ice, compression, elevation. Sounds like the nerves were deoxygenated for a time and they will heal. So promote healing with vitamins, supplements like willow bark (blood thinner, anti-inflammatory, pain reliever). But if it is still distinctly numb and immobile with no improvement, you will need to go to an ER to rule out a clot.
If your blood is sludgy from junk food/processed food, this might be the red flag your body is waving telling you that it needs you to clean up your diet - 9 fruits and veg a day, no white flour or processed sugar, no ETOH (which is just liquid sugar in your body, in essence).
Sounds like nerve palsy, probably temporary. It may take time to get feeling back but I might try gentle massage on the numb area until it returns to normal. If it is nerve, not sure what they could do since the nerve isn't lacerated.
It sounds to me like tendonitis where you've put weight and pressure on the bend of the wrist where the tendons are close.
There is no discolouration of your fingers or hand correct?
And you can move your fingers, but can't support weight on the wrist or when gripping?
I would ice the wrist for a little bit, and possibly put it in a sling so it is supported and allow any inflammation to decrease.
I am not a doctor and this is in no way meant to replace good medical advice. Have a look here for more information.
https://www.healthline.com/health/tendonitis-of-wrist
There will be an element of muscle wastage if it's left on for a long time, around two weeks and wastage can occur noticeably without use.
Did you read the link I put in?
You may have slightly damaged the nerve by pinching or posture or lack of blood flow when the wrist was bent and caused inflammation to the median nerve?
Was your head resting on the inside of your hand or was the the wrist bent over and your head was on the outside of the wrist/arm? I am trying to visualise your head and hand position.
If it was in the palm of your hand pushing down on the wrist, it could be the median nerve inflamed in the carpal tunnel.
If it was on the outside of your wrist on the hand was bent over it is most likely the tendon swollen.
Ice and rest/sling for a couple of days, and avoid using that hand for heavy lifting for a few days.
Not a doctor, please seek advice if it get worse and all that.
I slept with hand braces for about 3 years until I corrected my sleep posture.
I'd clench my fists and shove the back of my wrists into my eye sockets when I slept.
Led to my wrists being folded over about 90% of the night and a crippling pain in the base of my palm on a regular basis.
You pinched a nerve. They don't repair easily.
Lidocaine patches will ease the pain, but to get feeling back you need to wear a wrist brace for a while.
Don't let them snip-snip anything. My mother found out the hard way that any surgery or injections last maybe 3 months tops and you're back in that revolving door.
Ice is your best bet. Freeze a sponge and wrap it around your wrist.
If you want something topical to put on it, use some DMSO. Go light at first, you might have a bad reaction past the expected itch it causes.
https://www.arthritis.org/health-wellness/treatment/complementary-therapies/supplements-and-vitamins/supplement-and-herb-guide-for-arthritis-symptoms
DMSO Dimethyl Sulfoxide; see MSM
Origin: A colorless, sulfur-containing organic by-product of wood pulp processing.
Claims: Relieves pain and inflammation, improves joint mobility in osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and scleroderma, and manages amyloidosis (excessive build-up of protein in organs as seen in RA). Increases blood flow to skin.
If you want the "industrial" stuff that they use for race horses then go to Tractor Supply Co. and buy some horse-grade DMSO for cheap. Water it down with distilled water, though. That stuff is potent as hell.
If it's good enough for multi-million dollar race horses, it should be good enough for you.
Pain comes on when nerves reattach or come back online, not at the onset when they're pinched.
The healing phase is where the most pain occurs, as your body tries to flood the nerves with blood and fluff them back up into sending signals. As they come online, you feel the stimulation of each cell "gasping for breath."
Ice slows the healing process down so that only a bit of blood can come and fluff up the nerves. This will help steadily bring cells back online and prevent scarring where any inflammation has occurred. Scarring doesn't heal, so that's why ice is the best medicine at the moment. Inflammation is the biggest cause of the scarring, because it's a flood of cells adding too much pressure to the critical point. It's a too many cooks in the kitchen situation, where in the desperation to do their job they just end up getting in the way.
A light vibration is also helpful. Avoid stretches for the moment, as those can actually reverse any healing you've already been through. You need to gently wiggle cells into the right place for them to do their work instead of yank them around and hope they land where they're supposed to. Get one of those woman pleaser vibrators and rest your wrist on the lowest setting.
Bounce between heat and cold, but not too frequently. Heat to let blood come in and cold to slow the healing down so it doesn't scar.
DMSO - miracle stuff. I use it on my chronic pain - only thing that resulted in joint healing and RA reduction to the point of no chronic pain anymore. Just if I overdo it working out, which is pretty normal. Can't say enough good about DMSO. Just rub it on like a liniment since it is a clear liquid. Be generous all around the area in a wide radius.
Comfrey oil, keep applying.
Especially after shower.
Soak in Magnesium flakes.
Immobilize & prop it up when you go to bed.
Any idea if that helps with carpal tunnel prob please?
I had bad carpal tunnel from years of typing. Mycarpaltunnel.com saved me from needing surgery. It's disposable bandages you wear overnight to slowly stretch the tunnel out. Easy, painless and really works. I only wore them for a couple weeks but I'm sure everyone is different.
I have no financial stake in that company but think everyone should know about this.
Thanks, I'll give them a try. I do a lot of gardening which causes bad flare-ups, anti-inflammatory oils help but if this is a permanent solution, then its worth a try.
The carpal tunnel may need a targeted anti inflammatory treatment.
I have used fresh ground up comfrey leaves as a poultice, add a lavender flowers, turmeric essential oil and a drop of fresh Solomon seal root juices. Wrap it onto the shoulder, elbow and wrist joints. I’d leave that on overnight.
Thanks!
CTS is a mostly inflammatory issue - delayed/stalled healing r/t unresolved, recurring inflammation, I agree. Any herbal supplement that modulates (reduces) inflammation is good. Ashwaganda, bromelain, quercetin, C60 in the oil of your choice - olive, avocado, hemp. Hemp oil has very good anti-inflammatory properties taken orally.
I’d add St. John’s wort oil. It works on nerve pain for many people. I would suggest taking lion’s mane mushroom complex by Paul Stamets. If you can buy some fresh, even better! It takes amazing. You can also take SJW as a dried herb capsule with warm tea.
My go to healing herbs are comfrey leaves, burdock root and nettles. Learn how to handle them and you will reap great benefits.
I have comfrey and nettles but not burdock, many thanks,
Can you give a good source or book to learn how to make a poultices, recipes, drying and dosages?
Ran thru a patch of stinging nettles as a kid…yikes…unpleasant to say the least. SN are crazy good for healing but that memory is still crystal clear and harvesting/using the stuff makes me nervous.
I like Rose Mountain Herbs. They have a great deal of info posted.
T/u. I think I’ve seen their site before.
You got way better advice on this thread than I can give; I know nothing about the topic.
However, in solidarity I just had this happen to me two weeks ago. Slept wrong and woke up with severe pain and immobility. Could not use the hand at all. Reading the advice here I definitely could have done more -I did nothing except use an old wrist brace I had, mostly to remind myself to rest. That said, it cleared up in 3 or 4 days without seeing a doctor.
Obviously not advice, just some pep talk. Keep an eye on it obviously, but I hope this helps some.
With unilateral weakness/numbness you should first rule out more serious causes like a stroke or ministroke. This should be done by a medical professional, CT scan, etc. Also, I didn't see mention of your vaccine status, which we've seen can cause similar symptoms. Just my two cents as a retired Critical Care RN.
Just saying here that when I went to an upper-cervical chiro (specializes in upper two vertabrae, they are "Palmer Specific or Blair technique) it relieved pressure on my brain stem (all your nerves pass through there and pressure affects the body part the nerves go to) and solved so many issues for me. It is all, always, about nerves affecting function of a body part. That is pretty crazy that one hour of pressure on a nerve point in your hand did this much to your hand. I suspect it is a wrist issue. My first thought is always always.. soak fifteen minutes in hot as you can stand water with a strong size dose of epsom salts, to get that magnesium into you through the skin. Do that as your med, and rub on arnica. friction matters, with the arnica. get it rubbed in entirely. just don't press hard. Don't take any ibuprophen for a couple days, let it be inflamed if you body wants to do that, as it is what heals. If it is still inflamed (hurting) in a week try the ibuprophen. I would not use the diluted dmso just yet. wait a couple days. And be aware that anything else you have on your skin, dmso will take it into your injury point. So, arnica being taken in, that would be useful. I have used dmso. Please don't stress too much over this, you make it worse. Mental pictures and words of how it is all back to normal and feeling fine, are very powerful. Every word you say outloud, or to yourself, is important. Make them positive not fearful.
There are a lot of replies but I would get a drug store wrist splint and wear it as much as you can, especially at night. I have a wrist issue from an old injury and wake up a lot at night with numbness in fingers and the splint helps a lot at night. You probably irritated a nerve. It needs a bit of rest, imho. I would follow up with a dr when you can but my gut tells me some time and rest will be all it needs.
I would suggest seeing a chiropractor, preferably someone that practices the "activator" method (long story, but mild yet effective manipulation technique). The bones being out of alignment can lead to many nerve-related problems. It is quite possible that the weight of your head and the laxity of your sleeping hand combined to pinch a nerve. He (or she) would also be in a position to direct you to other help.
Chiropractor
black coffee and celery are natural anti inflamitories
I once passed out on a plane after taking some benadryl and a whole flight to Spain I had leaned on my bent wrist.
Couldn't do anything with my hand for a week, I was able to grab things after a week but had very little strength and struggled to turn a door know. If I held a shot glass, I needed my other hand or it would spill.
Slowly it got better and by a month I was back 100% or so. Doctor had told me to wait it out as I likely pinched a nerve and it had to heal.
Go to a chiropractor
I did this when I was a kid. 95% likely it's tendonitis and you're fine.
Maybe Arnica
Everything sleepydude said.
I did the same thing with my right shoulder a couple of months ago - just woke up and the pain was almost unbearable.
I used the DMSO and I used a heating pad every night. It would go off after an hour and when I woke up I did another hour.
I kept it as immobile as possible during the day.
I refuse to see a Doctor unless it is a HUGE emergency. This wasn't.
Fortunately, it got much better, but it took almost 6 weeks before I could use it like a normal person.
Will say a prayer for you, friend. 🙏
You may need to soak in the tub to release the impingement. If the blood flow is restricted go to ER.
It sounds to me like you have inflamed the tendons on the wrist by leaning on it and bending it under pressure for a long period of time. Any discolouration anywhere on the hand?
And you can move your fingers yes.
I'm not a Dr and this ain't medical advice, but I would ice the area for a bit, maybe support it in a sling for a day or so and allow any swelling that has occurred to go down. The symptoms do sound like tendonitis, read more here. https://www.healthline.com/health/tendonitis-of-wrist
Sounds like you can try RICE first for a sprain - rest, ice, compression, elevation. Sounds like the nerves were deoxygenated for a time and they will heal. So promote healing with vitamins, supplements like willow bark (blood thinner, anti-inflammatory, pain reliever). But if it is still distinctly numb and immobile with no improvement, you will need to go to an ER to rule out a clot.
If your blood is sludgy from junk food/processed food, this might be the red flag your body is waving telling you that it needs you to clean up your diet - 9 fruits and veg a day, no white flour or processed sugar, no ETOH (which is just liquid sugar in your body, in essence).
Go to urgent care
Had something similar happen and created a bad pinch in my neck. Soaking in a hot bath helped a lot.
I always look up the physical therapy routine for whatever hurts.
Sounds like nerve palsy, probably temporary. It may take time to get feeling back but I might try gentle massage on the numb area until it returns to normal. If it is nerve, not sure what they could do since the nerve isn't lacerated.