For over a month now, a portion of my right hand has been kind of numb. is this usually a serious issue? my hand was not injured in anyway. i think i just noticed one day that it was numb. there is no pain associated with this.

There : There are three nerves that supply feeling to the hand. The radial nerve travels over the inner side of the forearm along with the tendon to the top of the thumb. It supplies the top half of the thumb and index finger. It does not supply hand muscles. The ulnar nerve or funny bone nerve supplies feeling to the pinky and the ride of the ring finger next to the pinky as well as that side of the hand (top and bottom). This nerve is often compressed by leaning on your elbow too much. The median nerve supplies everything else in the hand. This is the nerve frequently compressed in the carpal tunnel at the wrist. Usually if that is what is happening, tapping on your wrist with the knuckle of your other hand will cause a zing or electrical feeling to travel into the hand to the middle finger. You may need to have an EMG or nerve test if it continues. Carpal tunnel syndrome is not often caused by injury. It is almost always more annoying at night. I hope this answers your question. If the whole hand is numb the problem may be higher up in the arm. Pinched nerves in the neck can cause numbness in a different pattern. An examination can help sort that out.

AS : As mentioned this can be from a peripheral nerve compression. Another source may bee a more proximal compression the level of the cervical spine or neck and it may affect an area that crosses over with the area supplied by a specific nerve giving seemingly atypical findings. It is important to differentiate pain, numbness, tingling and weakness.