Sign 1: Hand numbness that disappears by mid-morning
You wake up, your hand feels dead, you shake it out, and it's fine by the time you've made chai. So you blame the pillow. The pattern that separates carpal tunnel syndrome from a circulation issue caused by sleep position is timing and finger distribution. Carpal tunnel numbness clusters in the thumb, index, middle, and half the ring finger, the territory of the median nerve, which passes through a narrow bony channel at the wrist. A cramped sleeping position cuts off blood supply more diffusely, affecting the whole hand or arm. If the numbness is finger-specific and returns the following morning regardless of how you slept, the wrist is the more likely site.
