What is actually going on when your foot or leg "falls asleep"?

Question

You know, when you sit on your leg or foot a certain way for too long and it starts feeling like you have little prickly needles in them? What's that all about?

Answer 1

I heard it was that the blood is pooling in your leg and cant get back to reoxygenate and recirculate but your nerves are to blame.

When you sit on your foot, you temporarily compress, or squash, the nerves in that area. These nerves can't send messages back to the brain normally, and so for the moment, the connection is cut off and you don't feel anything.

After you stand up or uncross your legs and the nerves are no longer compressed, the feeling in your foot soon comes back. It might feel a bit tingly as this happens, like pins and needles or even a bit painful. But it only lasts a few seconds as the connection returns to normal, and it won't hurt your body.

Answer 2

You have cut the blood circulation off to your legs. Usually, if you've crossed your legs too long, you have pinched off the blood vessels in them so that blood cannot properly flow and deliver oxygen/remove waste. The body's response to that is to cause numbness, and eventually, cause the appendage to fall off it can't be supplied with blood for a long enough time. The tingling feeling is the nerves in your legs regaining their ability to feel. In an attempt to reduce pain, the body shuts off the nerves.

Answer 3

Demonic possession