This sleeping position is so bad for your body that medical professionals want you to stop doing it ASAP

It’s the same every morning. That tingle creeps into the fingers. And your shoulders? Stiff as ever. Extend your arms and roll your shoulders until the sensation returns. You stand up, shake yourself off. Probably nothing, you tell yourself.

I just slept weird, didn’t I? Maybe not. How you sleep could 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’re snuggled up tight. Sleeping with your arms folded, folded against your chest, has been called the “T. rex position” on social media. And while doctors don’t call it that, they 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 put pressure on the nerves in your elbows or wrists,” Dr. Raj Dasgupta, a sleep medicine specialist and chief medical advisor for Sleepopolis, told HuffPost. “This can slow blood flow and make your arms feel numb or tingly. If you do it often, it can strain your shoulders and make them stiff or sore.”

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

It turns out it’s surprisingly common—and it can get steadily worse over time.

1. The warning signs doctors want you to watch for

Kieran Sheridan, physiotherapist and founder of GulfPhysio, regularly sees complaints in his practice. Patients often describe a “dead arm” feeling or the need to squeeze their hands in the morning. “This is your body telling you that your nervous system is not happy,” he said.

Dasgupta also emphasized this. “If your arms or hands go numb every night, stay for a while after you wake up, or start to feel weak during the day, it’s time to see a doctor.”

Warning signs include shooting pain in your arm, trouble gripping things, or even dropping your phone more often. Don’t mistake them for annoying symptoms or clumsiness. Your body is telling you that the damage is getting worse.

Bennett said anyone who notices these symptoms becoming more frequent should get checked out. “Most cases are manageable and respond well to early, conservative treatment,” he said. Skip the treatment and that’s when the problems start.

“It’s usually temporary and goes away once you change your sleeping position,” noted Dasgupta. “But if the pressure continues to occur over a long period of time, weeks or months, it can cause lasting nerve damage.”

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2. Why your body gets stuck in this position at night

The huddle feels comforting. It’s instinctive, like pulling a blanket tighter when you’re cold. However, there is usually more behind it.

The body slips into self-protection even when there is no threat. When the nervous system is on high alert from chronic pain, stress, poor sleep or trauma, Bennett said, “we may subconsciously adopt postures that feel safer and less exposed.”

We automatically seek safety during sleep. And for some people, that search runs deeper than others. Judit Merayo Barredo, a clinical psychologist, said she had a patient who came to therapy with chronic insomnia and persistent fatigue.

Each night, her patient woke up curled up tightly, arms pressed to her chest, shoulders hunched into that T. rex position. “He would often wake up with muscle tension, a clenched jaw and a feeling of emotional heaviness,” Barredo said, “despite the fact that he slept for hours.” Apparently, Barredo’s client was dealing with severe anxiety and was expressing it in her sleep.

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The first goal Barredo set for her patient was to calm his nervous system at night. They tried guided body scans before bed, journaling before sleep to relieve stress and also changing their sleep configuration. The patient added extra pillows, dimmed the lights, and built a routine she could stick to. Barredo said that “changing her sleeping position was one of the first signs that her body was learning to feel safe again.”

Of course, not everyone who sleeps in the T. rex position suffers from chronic anxiety. Daily stress, trauma, poor sleep and regular tension can trigger the same response.

3. Simple ways to retrain your body to sleep differently

The problem is that the will does not work during sleep. You can’t tell yourself to stop curling up in the middle of the night. So the goal is to make it physically difficult for them to spin around using barriers and supports.

Bennett recommended something surprisingly simple: wrap a hand towel around your elbow and secure it loosely with an elastic bandage. This creates a soft barrier that makes deep bending uncomfortable without waking you up. If you have wrist pain, a brace at night also helps.

For side sleepers, Sheridan suggests a few approaches:

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Place a small pillow or folded towel between your arms and chest to prevent this full curl.

Hug a pillow to keep your arms neutral while giving you something to hold on to.

If you sleep on your back, rest your arms by your side or on a pillow next to your hips. Your arms should remain straight or just slightly bent. Do not put them under the body or under the pillow.

“Keeping your arms open allows for better circulation, less nerve compression and faster muscle recovery,” explained Sheridan.

Because this position often reflects a nervous system on high alert, Bennett suggested calming techniques before bed, such as breathing or gentle stretching. “The goal is not rigid posture correction,” he said. “Gives the body more support options for rest and recovery.”

If you wake up with numb hands, stiff shoulders, or pins and needles in your arm, you don’t need a total sleep overhaul, just a few small adjustments. Tonight is the night to make a change. The T. rex couldn’t change its position, but you can.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.

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