The Cleveland Clinic reports that around 85 people from 100,000 in the US suffer from pinched nerves a year. So you’re not alone if you are suffering from this condition as we’re talking about thousands of people here.
But once you’ve identified that you might have this problem, the question is: how to treat pinched nerves? There are several potential solutions for you to explore, and we’ll lay many of them out in this article.
So read on if you want to learn how to identify if you have pinched nerves, and what treatments you can try for this painful and debilitating condition.
What Is a Pinched Nerve?
When the tissue surrounding your nerve puts extra pressure on it, you can suffer from a pinched nerve. Surrounding tissue can refer to bone, muscle, tendon, or cartilage.
Some of the most common areas where you can get pinched nerves are your shoulders, neck, and lower back. You may also get pinched nerves in your wrists and elbows.
Types of Pinched Nerves
There are different medical terms for pinched nerves depending on where they are located in your body. It’s important to understand that they don’t all occur in the same way. However, they all share the commonality of causing compression on nerves to “pinch” them.
We will now look at three terms associated with the neck and back. We’re focusing on these regions as people are more prone to suffering pinched nerves in these areas.
Cervical Pinched Nerves
You will feel a cervical pinched nerve in your neck. Spinal stenosis or disc herniation causes this type of pinched nerve to occur.
In simple terms, it’s to do with the seven vertebrae in your cervical spine. What happens is these discs either wear down or shift.
Thoracic Pinched Nerves
You will experience a thoracic pinched nerve in your mid-back region. You have 12 thoracic vertebrae in your back that are spaced out by discs.
It is rare but can happen, that you get pinched nerves in this area. The reason for this is you don’t use this part of your back so much for movement compared to the cervical and lumbar parts.
Lumbar Pinched Nerves
You will get lumbar pinched nerves in your lower back area, where there are 5 vertebrae spaced out by discs. Because this area has a wide range of motion and flexibility, you have more chance of getting a pinched nerve there.
When you wear down your joints and discs in this area, you can experience a pinched nerve. Carrying out repetitive motions is one typical way of pinched nerves happening too.
Symptoms of Pinched Nerves
Now you should have a basic idea of the anatomy involved with pinched nerves in your neck and back. Let’s now explore some of the symptoms people might expect to have if they suffer from this condition.
Some symptoms of pinched nerves can include:
- Sharp burning or aching pains radiating outwardly
- Decreased sensation and numbness near the nerve
- Pins and needles (tingling)
- A recurring feeling that your hand or foot isn’t working
You may find these problems become exacerbated around the time you sleep and during sleep. So if you believe you have a pinched nerve, let’s move on to some treatments for you to consider.
Pinched Nerve Treatment
Treating pinched nerves alone is very doable. However, if you feel that your issues persist after attempting any of these treatments by yourself, we suggest you visit a medical professional.
You can try out one or more of the suggested treatments we are about to run through. Here are the treatments:
Check Your Posture
One of the first things you can do if you have a pinched nerve is to carefully adjust your posture. The idea is to find one or more positions that allow you to feel more comfortable and relieve your pain.
For instance, if you have a pinched nerve in your neck, you might want to try laying down and placing yourself in a fetal-like position. You might try the same kind of position for lower back pain too.
Furthermore, if the pain is on one side of your back, then try leaning against it. Of course, carry out such movements at a slow pace and with care to avoid shooting pains and the feeling like your back is going to seize up!
Rest Until Inflammation Dies Down
Another thing you should try and do straight away if you have a pinched nerve is to get some rest. many people feel a pinched nerve after carrying out certain activities when their body is inflamed more.
When you lay day and rest your body, you give it a chance to correct itself when the inflammation dies down. After you have rested a little, it’s a good idea to get your body moving again, however, be cautious and slower in your movements than you normally would.
Stretch
After resting and moving your body a little, you might want to then try some stretches to correct your pinched nerve issue. If you learn and carry out the proper stretches, it might take a day or two to correct your issue.
Begin by doing gentle stretches if you can. Then, as you loosen up more, you may want to exert a little more effort. In the end, subtle movements can have a large impact, so take it easy!
Change Your Desk
Many people who work a desk job find themselves experiencing a pinched nerve at some point. One of the reasons for this is they are sat in the same position for extended periods compressing certain areas of their body.
One way to switch up the way you work and change your body’s position is to get a standing desk. And if you can’t get a standing desk right away, then try to improvise with books and furniture in your home to get your laptop to the right height for standing and working.
Some people even go as far as getting a treadmill they can work and walk on. This means they are keeping active and their joint moving throughout the day, rather than compressing them into one position. If you don’t want to stand and work, then the next best solution is to take regular breaks where you go for walks to loosen up your body.
Move Your Keyboard
It might seem like a small change for you to make, however, moving your keyboard into a better position can help a lot when suffering from a pinched nerve. Mind, this is more of a specific remedy for people who have a pinched nerve in their forearm or wrist.
So the key here is to position your keyboard so that your wrists and elbows are in line. This small change can really help, especially if you tend to type for many hours each day.
Get a Roller Ball
Have you ever heard of roller balls? They are balls that can help you loosen up your back, shoulders, and arms and get rid of a pinched nerve.
There are many ways you can use rollers and different sizes too. We recommend you do a little research to see what advice there is for using roller balls on the specific area of your body where you are experiencing problems.
Invest in a Wrist Splint
Carpal tunnel syndrome is when you experience a pinched nerve in your wrist. This may lead to weakness and numbness in your fingers and hands sometimes.
One way to deal with carpal tunnel syndrome is to invest in a wrist splint. A wrist splint will hold your wrist firmly in place. The idea is the splint forces you to keep your wrist in a proper position and rest it more.
Use Ice Packs
If you have just experienced the pain of a pinched nerve, then an instant option on the table is to put pressure with an ice pack on your pain-ridden area. If you don’t have an ice pack, a bag of frozen peas might just do the trick, or something similar.
Keep in mind, that if you are going to use a bag of frozen vegetables, it’s worth wrapping a paper towel or cloth around the bag first. This way, you can protect your skin.
Use Heat and Stimulation
Once the first period of pain subsides a little, then you can consider applying heat to your problemed area. It’s usual that the muscles surrounding your pinched nerve get tensed up. Using heat is a good way to help your muscles relax.
The best way to apply heat is to use a purpose-made heat pad for this sort of thing. You can easily get these from a drugstore. If a heat pad isn’t an option, then heat some water to a warm temperature and then soak a cloth in it. use the cloth as a warm compress.
You may also want to use a stimulator to help loosen up your muscles. Here you can learn about Vagus Nerve Stimulator reviews.
How to Treat Pinched Nerves the Right Way
The question of how to treat pinched nerves has many responses. You can try all the techniques we mentioned in this article, we just advise you to do things like stretching with care.
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