Niggling needles

This week’s medical query comes courtesy of Mr BC from Hertfordshire, writing on behalf of his wife, afflicted in the early morning by painful pins and needles of her left arm (and occasionally left leg).

“The timing is baffling,” he writes, as indeed it is, for this distressing sensation is not present (as might be expected) when she wakes but comes on gradually over a period of a quarter of an hour.

She tries to relieve this discomfort by swinging her arm and slapping it down on the bed – to no avail. It fades only gradually after she has risen and had breakfast. The purchase of a new mattress has not improved matters. Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

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