FitSugar

What's the Deal With: Pins and Needles

FitSugar — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 09:30:00 PDT

Occasionally I'll wake up from a deep sleep and realize my arm has also fallen asleep. When it "wakes up," I do everything I can to keep still and control the almost unbearable sensation of "pins and needles."

There's actually a medical term for this called Transient Paresthesia. Usually, you feel this temporary yet bizarre sensation after you've been putting pressure on part of your body, like when you're sitting on a foot or sleeping on your arm. When you apply this pressure for a prolonged period of time, you actually cut off communication from your brain to parts of your body. This pressure squeezes nerve pathways so that the nerves can't transmit electrochemical impulses properly.

Nerve impulses carry sensation information from nerve endings in the body to the brain, as well as instructions from the brain to the rest of your body. The information transmitted from the "sleeping" body part becomes somewhat jumbled, and the brain receives strange messages. Some nerve cells don't transmit any information and others start sending impulses erratically. This causes you to feel a strange numbing, burning, prickly, or tingling sensation, which actually serves an important function. Your foot falling asleep for 10 minutes doesn't pose any health threat, but if you were to cut off circulation for an extended period of time -- several hours -- you could suffer serious nerve damage. The initial tingling sensation tells you that you might want to readjust your position.

Just thought you might want to know...

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8 Things You Didn't Know About Patrick Stewart

Kristy Korcz — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 12:42:44 PDT

Our favorite captain, Sir Patrick Stewart, sat down for a live Nerdist podcast with Chris Hardwick this week to chat about his time on Star Trek: The Next Generation, his upcoming voice work on American Dad, and how he first met Ricky Gervais. We dug up some interesting tidbits that geeks will love about Patrick Stewart, thanks to the podcast. Check them out below!

He once fell asleep standing up while filming a scene on TNG. Apparently, the film footage is still in Paramount's vaults.
"The Alphabet Song" was originally filmed with choreography as a private gift for creator Gene Roddenberry's birthday, and the piano track was added in later (in the wrong key). Obviously, it was never meant to hit the Internet.
During the first season of TNG, he thought that the cast and crew "screwed around" too much (he was very serious about the work), so he gave them a pep talk about shaping up. He said "I could do this, because I was the captain and a lot older."
He credits Levar Burton, Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, Michael Dorn, and Marina Sirtis for giving him a sense of humor.
When Ricky Gervais initially called him to work on Extras, he was in a supermarket and thought that it was a friend who does excellent impersonations.
He's not a comic book fan and had to be talked into doing X-Men.
He says that America has never forgiven him for slapping Julia Roberts in Conspiracy Theory.
When asked what he has learned about himself through acting, he said "Not to be afraid. I was fearful for years, afraid of being myself; I was a great faker. . . . Getting rid of fear, and that's what I say to all acting students when I talk to them, that it's the most important thing they have to free themselves of, because they are not expressing themselves when they are afraid of being themselves."

The Crazy Things You've Found Snooping

Annie Scudder — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 04:00:30 PDT

If you readers have taught me anything, it's to snoop at your own risk. Last week, I asked you to share the craziest thing you found snooping, and the answers did not disappoint - from your boyfriend's surprising lingerie preferences, to nude photos, you guys have stumbled upon some juicy secrets while spying. Many women weighed in on the site and on Facebook. Below, read the list of what you've found, along with the quotes from the snoopers.

Women's underwear: "Garbage bag full of women's panties in my ex bf's closet."

Drugs: One Facebook follower recalls a time she was babysitting and invited her friends over after the kids fell asleep: "They were looking though the people's desk . . . and found their DRUG STASH! Marijuana and Blotter Acid!! WTH???!! They were like professional middle class parents . . . My first lesson in "don't judge a book by its cover."

Presents: "Every single gift my ex-boyfriend ever gave me."

Full-frontal photos: "I was kinda of dating this guy and searched him on the Internet," wrote a reader, "I found him on Adult Friend Finder. Not only was he searching for partners . . . He had a nude picture of himself, full frontal. LOL when I confronted him he denied it even though I could see his face. Lastly, he got mad at me for snooping."

Deceitful love letters: "Love letters from my best friend to my boyfriend." Ouch!

Same-sex affairs: "My first boyfriend had cheated on me with another guy. Akwarddddd."

Family secrets: "My birth certificate and my sisters did not match."

Steroids: "Bodybuilder physique while in law school, should've known better."

Adorable Bob Ross-Themed Gadget Skins For Happy Tree-Like Memories

Kristy Korcz — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 11:55:22 PST

I may not have the "artsy" gene, and can't paint a barn to save my life, but I watched Bob Ross's The Joy of Painting every single week when I was a kid. Not only was he the king of creating "happy little trees," but his voice was so soothing I often fell asleep while watching him paint. If you don't know who Bob Ross is, then I feel old.

So imagine my excitement when I came across these Infectious The EarlYears ($14 and up) gadget skins from artist SteveORama. Fitting your BlackBerry, iPod, iPhone, iPad, and laptops, you can outfit your electronic essentials in happiness in Bob's familiar form and let them pose as daily conversation pieces as well. Bob Ross has quite the following, so be prepared for some "happy little tree" comments from your fellow commuters. Check out more images of the skins in the slideshow!

Evening Workouts Don't Disrupt Sleep, Studies Say

Jenny Sugar — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 14:37:31 PDT

Unless you're a morning person, a three-mile jog at 6 a.m. is just not going to happen. And if your lifestyle doesn't allow for a midday workout, exercising in the late evening may be the only time to squeeze in a sweat session.

Exercising regularly can help people fall asleep faster and give them a better night's sleep, but will working out too close to bedtime interfere? It might make sense to assume yes, but according to a few recent studies, exercising before bed won't disrupt sleep.

In Finland, 11 people rode stationary bikes three hours before bedtime until they were exhausted. Even though their heart rates were elevated, they fell asleep more quickly and slept more deeply in comparison to nights they didn't exercise. In a different study in Belgium, nine volunteers biked for an hour two hours before hitting the hay and experienced similar sleep benefits.

This is great news for night owls who prefer or need to get their run, yoga practice, or strength training session in right before bed. If you feel super awake after exercising, try a warm bath, a cup of herbal tea, listening to relaxing music, reading in bed, or doing some light stretches to inspire drowsiness.

What Will and What Won't Help You Drift Into Dreamland

Heather Dale — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 03:07:14 PDT

Whenever I need my sleep the most - whether it's when I'm stressed or overtired - is when I have the most difficulty falling asleep. And we all know that not getting enough sleepy time is a recipe for disaster. It's frustrating to say the least, and I feel like I've tried every tip and trick to relax and calm my mind, from hot baths and reading, to taking melatonin and drinking herbal teas. Do you have any tried, tested, and true tricks that work for you? Now it's time to take a closer look at some remedies to see if they actually work!

Counting Sheep: As fun as it is to imagine furry sheep while lying in bed, this old wives' tale technique of helping you fall asleep is actually a myth. A study at Oxford University showed that people who counted sheep (compared to those who did nothing at all) actually took longer to fall asleep. What they did find though is that visualization of a relaxing scene helped insomniacs fall asleep 20 minutes sooner. Researchers believe that counting sheep is ineffective because it's too boring and participants stop counting. In comparison, imagining yourself on a tropical island is engaging enough to concentrate on until we tire ourselves out. A separate study showed that insomniacs usually focus on worries before bed, and things they did during the day. Which is why it's important to really wind down and focus on positive, calming thoughts.

Keep reading about other remedies.