Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised May 29, 2026

Obdormition

Obdormition is temporary numbness in a limb, often caused by constant pressure on nerves or lack of movement. This is colloquially referred to as the limb "going to sleep," and it is usually followed by paresthesia, colloquially called "pins and needles".

Last revised
May 29, 2026
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Obdormition (/ˌɒbdɔːrˈmɪʃən/; from Latin obdormire "to fall asleep") is temporary numbness in a limb, often caused by constant pressure on nerves or lack of movement.1 This is colloquially referred to as the limb "going to sleep," and it is usually followed by paresthesia, colloquially called "pins and needles".

References

References

  1. Sharif-Alhoseini, Mahdi; Rahimi-Movaghar, Vafa; Vaccaro, Alexander R. (2012). "Underlying causes of paresthesia". In Imbelloni, Luiz E.; Gouveia, Marildo A. (eds.). Paresthesia. Rijeka, Croatia: InTech. pp. 71–90. ISBN 978-953-51-0085-0 – via Google Scholar. Obdormition is a numbness caused by prolonged pressure on a nerve, such as when a leg falls asleep if the legs are crossed for a prolonged period.