Every time you decide to move your body, whether it’s standing up, walking around or playing sports, your brain sends signals to your muscles to make sure they move correctly. Most of the time, when your foot, or any other body part, falls asleep, it is temporary and nothing to worry about.

In fact, paresthesia is a completely normal and harmless sensation that everyone experiences from time to time. They imagine the “asleep” feeling happens when your blood, which carries nutrients all over your body, is unable to get to your foot. Such articles are not suitable for any (self-) diagnosis and treatment of individual illnesses and medical indications. Remember, it’s these nerves that carry messages back and forth to let your brain and your foot communicate with each other.But when you compress the nerves for an extended period of time (which can happen when you sit on your foot or cross your legs for too long, for example), communication between the body and the brain can be temporarily interrupted. It’ll go away pretty quickly – and maybe it can remind you of all the important brain messages your nerves are usually transmitting without your even noticing. The discomfort prompts you to adjust your position, which is necessary to avoid permanent damage that may occur in the limbs if blood flow is restricted and nerves are compressed for several hours.

Zachary Gillen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Many people assume the strange sensation described as a foot falling asleep is due to restricted blood flow, but poor circulation is rarely to blame for a limb that has fallen asleep. In particular, they cannot substitute for the examination, advice, or treatment by a licensed physician or pharmacist.For a minute or two it feels uncomfortable and weird, but soon enough you are able to stand up and walk around normally. When the brain is unable to talk with a muscle or groups of muscles, some weird things can happen – including that part of your body getting that weird falling-asleep sensation. The “falling asleep” feeling of parasthesia is rarely painful and, as sites like Healthline, Medlineplus and MayoClinic point out, the duration is usually only a few seconds.

But what exactly is behind the numbness and tingling, which most people describe as the foot falling asleep? When an artery is pinched, it is unable to supply your tissues and nerve cells with the oxygen and glucose-rich blood they need.

If the nerves have been compressed for a little while, you won’t have much feeling in your foot because it can’t get its normal messages through to your brain about how it feels or if it’s moving. In fact, since it lasts for only a minute or two, you may not even remember it happened by the end of the day. I’m an exercise physiologist – a scientist who studies what happens to our bodies when we move and exercise.

Don’t worry, that feeling will only last for a few minutes and then everything will feel normal again.The nerves in your body act like tiny phone wires, carrying electrochemical messages back and forth between your body and your brain. However, chronic paresthesia could be caused by medical conditions like diabetes, hyperventilation syndrome, neuron function problems, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), poor circulation, tumors, panic attacks and prior strokes. Therefore, it is suggested that you visit a health care provider if you experience one or both of your feet falling asleep on a regular basis. When your foot falls asleep, there is something wrong with the communication between your brain and the muscles in that area.