Pinched Nerve
Overview
A pinched nerve is the result of pressure surrounding the nerve, typically cause by bone spurs, bulging or herniated discs, and even unaligned muscles and ligaments. There are multiple effects of a pinched nerve, including tingling, pain, and numbness. A pinched nerve is nothing to be taken lightly, and a doctor should be consulted immediately, because it can result in permanent damage to the affected area of compression or "pinching."
Pinched nerves can happen in your wrist, legs, back, neck and virtually anywhere else in your body. Typically, herniated and bulging discs can cause pinched nerves in your neck, back and other parts of the spinal column. The herniated or bulging disc puts a significant amount of pressure on a surrounding nerve by bulging outside of the thing tissue keeping it in place. In doing so, it compresses the nerve, causing severe pain and discomfort. This pain can be felt anywhere from the arms and shoulders (if the pinched nerve is in the neck) or even down your buttocks and legs (due to a pinched nerve in the lower back).
Pinched nerves can also commonly occur in the wrist, due to carpal tunnel. Due to this type of pinched nerves, the result is typically numbness or the "asleep" feeling in the fingers. It can also cause a cramping or arthritic feeling in your hand.
Pinched Nerve Symptoms
- Numbness or the "asleep" feeling in the extremities associated or branched with the pinched nerve
- Sharp pain with certain movements
- When the body jerks, or quick reflexes are made, pain is typically substantial, especially with pinched nerves in the spinal column
- Tingling sensations
- Muscle weakness
- Constant twitching in the surrounding or affected area
Pinched Nerve Treatment
Surgery isn't always a necessary approach to a pinched nerve; however, sometime it is needed to completely correct the issue. With surgery, a doctor will try to relieve pressure by fixing the underlying problem. A pinched nerve is not always a main condition, but the result of another condition. For example, if a bulging disc is compressing the nerve, therein causing pain, the doctor will try to fix the bulging disc, alleviating the pressure and, therefore, relieving the patient of pain associated with it.
Anti-inflammatory medication is also a common treatment. Anti-inflammatory medicine will help reduce any swelling in the affected area, causing the pressure on the nerve to retract, and reliving pain associated with that pressure. Also, a physician will recommend rest or a splint or brace, generally followed by a short rehab stint.
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