Symptoms related to pinched nerves include pain, numbness, and tingling. Repetitive motion tasks, stress, or sudden injury typically aggravate symptoms.
Millions of nerves extend from the spinal cord throughout the body to send messages to muscles and skin. They enter and exit the spine through spaces between bones called vertebrae.
Medications
Nerves that travel through small openings within the spinal cord and vertebrae can become compressed by surrounding structures, including muscles, tendons, ligaments, or damaged intervertebral discs. When nerves are pinched, they can cause pain, weakness, numbness, and tingling in various parts of the body.
Symptoms of a pinched nerve often improve over time with conservative pinched nerve treatment near me. Over-the-counter nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications like ibuprofen and aspirin can help reduce inflammation pressing on a nerve. Injections of steroid medicine can also reduce swelling around the nerve to relieve pain. Other medications that are traditionally used to dampen nerve activity in conditions like epilepsy, such as gabapentin (Neurontin, Gralise) and pregabalin, can also be very helpful for people with severe nerve pain.
In cases where conservative treatments do not relieve symptoms, a spinal physician might recommend surgery. During an anterior cervical diskectomy and fusion, the surgeon removes herniated spinal discs and bone spurs that are causing nerve compression.
Physical Therapy
Nerves are like delicate, intricate telephone wires that transmit messages between your brain and the rest of your body. If a nerve is pinched, that’s like putting a kink in one of those wires—the result is often a symphony of pain, tingling, and numbness.
A physical exam usually confirms your symptoms. Your healthcare provider will examine your neck, shoulders, arms, and hands, testing your reflexes and checking how well you can move your muscles. Imaging tests, such as an X-ray or a computed tomography (CT) scan, can show narrowing and changes in the alignment of your spine, which may be causing pressure on a nerve. An MRI can provide more detail about soft tissues, such as herniated discs.
Physical therapy can help relieve a pinched nerve. Your physical therapist will probably use spinal traction to restore the ligaments that influence the shape of your spine’s natural curvature. They’ll also do exercises and stretches to ease pain, strengthen your spine, and improve your posture.
Massage Therapy
Pinched nerves can occur in any area of the body. They are most common in the neck and back but can also happen in the arms (tennis elbow), wrists (carpal tunnel syndrome), and legs (sciatica). Most of the time, pinched nerves are caused by nearby tissues putting unusual pressure on the affected area.
A chiropractor can re-position bones and joints to alleviate this pressure. They may recommend massage therapy to ease muscle tension that can contribute to the pressure on the nerve. Techniques like effleurage strokes and light kneading over knots can melt away the tightness, reduce pain, and help the muscles recover.
Although massage therapy isn’t a cure for herniated discs, it can be an important piece of the puzzle that helps relieve symptoms and speed up recovery. It can also provide restful sleep, essential to the body’s ability to heal itself. That’s why massage is a valuable part of a comprehensive treatment plan for pinched nerve syndrome.
Exercise Therapy
Your chiropractor will help you build a home program, including stretches and exercises you can do to keep your muscles flexible, reduce pain, and prevent future episodes of pinched nerve syndrome. They’ll also advise on a schedule of office visits to provide spinal decompression therapy and massages to ease your discomfort.
Your nervous system is like an intricate network of delicate telephone wires, transmitting signals to all areas of the body. A pinched nerve is like a kink in one of these wires, disrupting communication and sending distress signals in pain, tingling, and numbness.
A herniated disc, osteoarthritis, and other spinal changes can narrow the space around the spine, compressing spinal nerves. Repetitive motions and obesity can also add pressure to the spine. Slouching at your desk or hunching over your phone may add to the pressure. This is why your chiropractic care will be so helpful.