How to Deal With a Foot That's Asleep

Everyone, at some point in life, has experienced the feeling of pins and needles or a tingling sensation in their foot. We call this our foot falling asleep. The medical term for a sleeping foot or arm is "transient paresthesia". It typically happens when we put pressure on a body part for an extended period of time. The pressure cuts off communication from your brain to the body part.

Instructions

• 1

  Release the pressure. If you are sitting on your foot, take it out from underneath your body. A sleeping foot can also be caused by shoes that are too tight or are laced too tightly. In this case, remove the shoe.

• 2

  Shake your foot gently to wake it up.

• 3

  Massage your foot to increase circulation to the area. Take the foot in your hand and move it back and forth, flexing the ankle.

• 4

  Get up and walk on it when the tingling sensation starts to subside. Do not try standing on your foot immediately when it falls asleep, you might find that it can not support your weight and you fall.

• 5

  Soak your foot in warm water, or put it under the faucet in the bathtub and run warm water on it. Be sure to check the temperature of the water with your hand, or another body part first before putting your foot in to make sure it is not too hot. If your foot is still asleep it might not send appropriate signals to the brain and you could burn your foot before your brain knows to pull it back out of the hot water.