If You Sleep In This 1 Position, Doctors Say You Need To Stop Immediately

It may feel safe and comfy, but experts warn it could lead to lasting nerve damage.

It’s the same every morning. That tingling creeps into your fingers. And your shoulders? Stiff as always. You stretch out your arms and roll your shoulders until the feeling comes back. You get up, shake it off. Probably nothing, you tell yourself.

Just slept weird, right? Maybe not. The way you sleep might be the real problem.

Many people don’t even realize it’s happening. They fall asleep with their arms relaxed, but by 3 a.m., they’ve curled in tight. Sleeping with arms bent, curled close to your chest, has been dubbed the “T. rex position” on social media. And while doctors don’t call it that, they do warn that doing it night after night can turn those temporary pins and needles into lasting nerve damage.

“When you sleep with your arms bent and tucked in, you can press on the nerves in your elbows or wrists,” Dr. Raj Dasgupta, a sleep medicine specialist and chief medical adviser for Sleepopolis, told HuffPost. “This can slow blood flow and make your arms feel numb or tingly. If you do it often, it can also strain your shoulders and make them stiff or sore.”

According to Dr. Matthew Bennett, a board-certified orthopedic surgeon, some people also develop similar nerve irritation at the wrist, much like what happens with carpal tunnel syndrome. Keeping your elbow bent all night builds pressure where nerves pass through narrow spaces.