Cutting off circulation to nerves
Ever sat in a certain position for a long period of time only to find that when you got up, your leg had gone numb and it was quite difficult to walk for a few minutes afterward? Have you ever wanted to figure out how to make parts of your body fall asleep on purpose? Well, look no further than here! These are all things I've done myself, so I can confirm that they work. However, each individual's nervous system is built a little bit differently, so although one can usually predict which parts of the body will be affected by different nerves, sometimes, parts affected by doing this will vary slightly from person to person.
If you sit or lay in the positions below, you will be able to cut off circulation to nerves. If you are doing it correctly, you will first start to experience sensory loss, which starts with a sense of coldness, pins and needles, or numbness, which means you are in the right position. Motor loss will usually start after sensory loss doesy.
Disclaimer: This part of the site is based off of personal experience, not scientific evidence. Sometimes, sensation and movement lost may not correspond exactly with the exact functions of the nerve that you may read about in other sources. The information below is what has happened when I sat in certain positions.
Also, YOU ARE DOING THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK! If you cut off circulation for more than an hour, you may run the risk of getting permanent nerve damage. I am NOT responsible if you get permanent nerve damage because you're the one who decided to do this in the first place. It usually takes about 2 hours for nerve damage to start, but I wouldn't go longer than 1.
Also if you do this way too much, you might start to get tiny painless muscle twitches in the muscles controlled by the nerves that you messed up, usually starting the day after you do it and lasting for a few more days. If you notice muscle twitching, that means take a break from cutting off circulation to your nerves for a while and give your nerves some time to heal and regroup.
BUT anyways, if you want to see what it's like to paralyze different parts of your body, read on!
If you sit or lay in the positions below, you will be able to cut off circulation to nerves. If you are doing it correctly, you will first start to experience sensory loss, which starts with a sense of coldness, pins and needles, or numbness, which means you are in the right position. Motor loss will usually start after sensory loss doesy.
Disclaimer: This part of the site is based off of personal experience, not scientific evidence. Sometimes, sensation and movement lost may not correspond exactly with the exact functions of the nerve that you may read about in other sources. The information below is what has happened when I sat in certain positions.
Also, YOU ARE DOING THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK! If you cut off circulation for more than an hour, you may run the risk of getting permanent nerve damage. I am NOT responsible if you get permanent nerve damage because you're the one who decided to do this in the first place. It usually takes about 2 hours for nerve damage to start, but I wouldn't go longer than 1.
Also if you do this way too much, you might start to get tiny painless muscle twitches in the muscles controlled by the nerves that you messed up, usually starting the day after you do it and lasting for a few more days. If you notice muscle twitching, that means take a break from cutting off circulation to your nerves for a while and give your nerves some time to heal and regroup.
BUT anyways, if you want to see what it's like to paralyze different parts of your body, read on!
The Leg - Sciatic Nerve
- Sensation lost: Most of foot other than a small bit on the ankle, and you also lose sensation to the back of the entire leg. Motor loss will begin once sensory loss reaches the back of your upper thigh.
- Movement lost: All foot and ankle movement, sometimes you can still move your toes but not always. You can usually move your leg but will not be able to control it as well or move it as far.
- Note: You WILL NOT be able to walk for several minutes after doing this. If you get both legs, you will not be able to stand either. Just warning you.
How to:
There are three methods I have used to successfully cut off circulation to the sciatic nerve.
- The first of these is to just sit cross-legged. This method is not the most reliable, and it can take a few attempts, but once you find out the correct way for you to sit, it's not too difficult. Usually, this will cause one leg to go numb and the other leg to go partially numb. If you put weight on your lap as your legs are crossed, it is possible to make both legs go numb. I've done this once unintentionally with my laptop on my lap as weight.
- The second way is the way I do it the most often, and you can have your leg totally asleep in 30 minutes or less, perfect if you're just sitting somewhere, bored, and you feel like making your leg go numb. First, sit down normally in a chair, with your legs just in front of you and your knees bent so that your feet touch the ground. Next, with whichever leg you want to cut off circulation to, take that leg, lift it above your other leg, and place the ankle of the chosen leg on the knee of the other leg. The leg that you're cutting off the circulation to should now have the knee pointing outward, away from your body. Wait for about 2-3 minutes, and if you're in the right position, you should feel a slight coldness or a bit of pins and needles at first. This might go away after a bit, but it should quickly be replaced by stronger pins and needles and numbness. Once the numbness reaches the back of the upper thigh, you will not be able to move your foot or ankle. If you do not start to feel anything after a few minutes, change the position of your foot on the chosen leg, move it either further up to the end of the knee it's sitting on or move it more toward the thigh. Once you get a good position, just stay like that.
- Kneel. Sit on your legs while you kneel and stay there. Try to balance yourself so that you are sitting on both legs equally, and after about 30 minutes, your legs will go numb. I have never managed to make both my legs go numb using this method, for some reason, it only happens in one leg for me and then the other goes slightly numb, but it can be done. A funny video of this happening to people is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwpxotSZhwc
The Leg - Peroneal Nerve
- Sensation Lost: Top of foot, lateral (outside) part of leg
- Movement Lost: Dorsiflexion of ankle (pointing toes upward) and ankle eversion (pointing foot out to your side)
This does not get the entire peroneal nerve, but you will lose your dorsiflexion ability. Ankle eversion is lost about 10 minutes after dorsiflexion. If you've ever wanted to experience the condition known as "foot drop" for yourself, this is a safe and temporary way to do it.
How to:
- Simply sit down on a chair somewhere and cross your legs so that the leg on the bottom is pushing up against the area sort of in front of (distal to) the back of your knee on the other leg. The exact spot on the top leg is at the top part of the shin and a bit off to the side (lateral).
The Arm - Musculocutaneous nerve, part of the axillary nerve, and some parts of the brachial plexus
- Sensation lost - Incomplete sensory loss in the area between the thumb and pointer finger and sensory loss in a strip of skin going from there up to the shoulder
- Movement lost - Elbow flexion (bending the elbow), shoulder abduction (lifting your arm up), most major arm movements, wrist supination (turning your wrist so your palm faces up)
- You get to keep arm extension (unbending the elbow) and can still move the arm slightly. You also keep all finger movement.
This does not get the entire axillary nerve, and it most likely gets some other nerves as well, but you will still experience greatly reduced arm mobility, and if you wait long enough, you will be totally unable to bend your elbow at all. It's really creepy, and it creeped me out the first time I did it unintentionally.
Note: This is a somewhat difficult position to get exactly right. It can also take a few minutes before you begin to feel any sensory loss to indicate that you're in the right position. You can test if you're in the right spot by rubbing your 1st two fingers together and seeing if it feels slightly weird. If you feel nothing after 10 minutes, adjust your position and try again.
How to:
- This is to be done laying on your side, like if you are in bed. You should be laying on the same side as the arm you want to briefly kill. First, position your chosen arm so that it is reaching out in front of you. Then, lay your head on the front area of your shoulder by where your arm meets up with your chest. You may have to move it further up the arm for it to work. To make this a bit easier, search for an area on your arm where, if you lay your head on it, you can feel a pulse there. Then, lay your head right where the pulse is and you will cut off your circulation. If you are cutting off circulation properly, you may feel a sensation of coldness, and once you feel it, it will be easier for you to tell on subsequent attempts if you're in the right spot.
The pattern of motor loss is very similar to a condition known as Erb's palsy.
Other nerves coming soon:
- Ulnar nerve (pinky and half of middle finger, allows movement of fingers together and apart and some thumb movement and gripping). This one is really easy to cut off circulation to, and it will be up as soon as I write a how-to.
- Median nerve (most of the palm of the hand, allows you to flex (curl) your fingers. I have not figured out a good way to cut off circulation to this nerve other than just sitting or laying on your hand and hoping something happens, but as soon as I do, I'll let you know.
- Radial nerve (most of the back of your hand, allows for extending your fingers and lifting your wrist). I have only cut off circulation to this nerve once by accident and have not yet found a way to do it reliably.