The vast majority of the human population has experienced temporary paresthesia at least once. We’re willing to bet that since you’re reading this article, you’ve struggled with paresthesia more than once.

Before you hit the back button on your web browser, let us reassure you that you didn’t accidentally click onto the wrong blog post. Paresthesia is a fancy medical term that’s used to describe the phenomenon of sleeping feet and other limbs.

Sleeping feet are usually just an inconvenient occurrence. If you have sleeping limb troubles frequently or are extremely averse to the tingling pain/sensations that come with paresthesia though, you might be curious to know how you can get rid of those sensations quickly and prevent them going forward.

Below, we share tips on how to accomplish both of those ends!

What is Paresthesia?

Before we dive into limb waking and sleep prevention techniques, let’s quickly define what’s happening in your body when it’s experiencing paresthesia. When your body is broadcasting numbness or tingling in a limb, it’s almost always due to the fact that you’re putting pressure on a nerve or are restricting circulation in the limb.

In very rare cases, paresthesia is telling of a worse illness like multiple sclerosis or brain tumors.

Wake From Sleep and Prevention Techniques

When managing bouts of sleeping feet, your primary goal should be to wake your limb up and your secondary goal might be to reduce the amount of time that your limbs spend asleep going forward.

Here are 8 quick tips that can help with those aims:

1. Change Your Sitting Position

Do you notice that your feet always fall asleep when you’re sitting crossed-legged? If you do, your body is telling you that it has trouble operating when you’re in that position. The easiest way to remedy the issue is to stop sitting that way.

If you’re required by a school or a job to sit in a way that’s causing you discomfort, get a doctor’s note that requests reasonable accommodations be made.

2. Stand Up

Sometimes, being seated in any position for too long can bring about sleeping feet. Try to stand up periodically to prevent your limbs from falling asleep during long meetings/similar situations. If your foot is already asleep, standing up to get blood circulating can help wake it up quickly.

3. Go For a Walk

In cases where your foot is severely asleep, the most aggressive way to regain its full functionality would be to slowly try to walk it awake. Take care when doing this as you may injure your foot if you put too much weight on it. Also, make sure that your surroundings are safe since tripping is much more common when walking on a sleeping foot than it is when walking on one that’s awake.

4. Get Foot Massages

Getting your feet massaged periodically can increase their circulation which can help them become less prone to bouts of sleep. After a long foot massage, drink as much water as you can to help flush out lactic acid that your body releases in response to having pressure put on its muscles.

5. Work on Your Flexibility

A great way to improve your body’s ability to move blood more efficiently is to improve your flexibility. In our opinion, the best way to improve your flexibility is to partake in yoga.

You may have tried yoga in the past and found yourself put off by it due to some of the challenging positions most guided sessions force on you. The key to surviving those sessions and improving is to modify movements to your comfort level.

With proper modifications and the will to get better, you’ll be a yoga expert in no-time and your limbs will feel more comfortable in unique sitting/standing positions.

6. Don’t Wear Constrictive Footwear

Wearing tight shoes will almost certainly lead to sleeping feet. Take care of your circulation and the bone structure in your feet by ensuring that any shoes you put on include a little bit of breathing room.

If all of your shoes are tight, using a shoehorn to widen them can make your existing footwear more foot-friendly.

7. Make Time to Wiggle Your Toes

You might not think that wiggling your toes can benefit your sleeping feet issues. In reality, taking a moment to give your toes a good shake can have a massive impact on your foot’s ability to stay awake.

Toe wiggling signals your brain to send more blood to your feet which will keep your nerves active and reduce your risk of getting those painful prickling feelings that proceed paresthesia. Stretching out your toes can also keep cramps at bay.

8. See a Doctor

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, arm and leg numbness can creep up on you more than you’d like. If you’re struggling with paresthesia problems and can’t remedy them on your own, see a doctor.

Your doctor can take blood samples to see if certain nutrient deficiencies are to blame. They can also rule out more serious medical conditions.

Don’t Sleep on Sleeping Feet

Sleeping feet can be an annoying issue that you shouldn’t sleep on treating if comfort is important to you. We hope that you’ll use our techniques above to bust through your next bout with paresthesia and will be proactive in preventing issues going forward.

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