Pinched Nerve? Learn What To Do For A Pinched Nerve In Your Neck

What Is A Pinched Nerve?

Your spinal cord runs down the center of your vertebrae and has nerve roots that branch off of it. Those nerve roots run between each vertebrae and when these nerve roots are irritated, it results in radiculopathy, or more commonly known as a pinched nerve. When you have a pinched nerve it usually means that one or more of these nerves is compressed.

Pinched nerves most frequently occur in the neck and shoulder area, in the back and upper chest, in the arm, in the wrist and hand. They can also occur in the hips, legs, and feet.

Symptoms of a pinched nerve in the neck include:

• Numbness in the neck and shoulder region
• Sharp or aching pain that may radiate outward
• Pins and needles or tingling sensation
• Muscle weakness
• Pain when you turn your head or move your neck

In this example, the patient had pain radiating from the neck into the shoulder area which helps us locate and treat the root of the pain.

What Causes A Pinched Nerve?

You now know that a pinched nerve occurs when a nerve root is compressed but what causes that compression to occur? Any tissue that surrounds a nerve can put enough compression on the nerve to cause pain.

As we age, spinal discs suffer wear and tear and flatten so there is less space between the vertebrae. As the vertebrae grow closer together, many people develop bone spurs that can compress nerves. Rheumatoid arthritis is another common cause of pinched nerves. Because rheumatoid arthritis causes inflammation in the joints, it’s easy for that inflammation to put pressure on nearby nerves.

Pinched nerves can be caused by injury, especially if that injury results in a herniated disc. Fractures, sprains, and other injuries that create inflammation also have the ability to cause a pinched nerve. Some people experience pinched nerves due to scar tissue left over after an injury. A sudden injury from playing a sport or from being involved in a car accident can also cause a pinched nerve.

We see many patients who have a pinched nerve due to repetitive motions such as typing on a keyboard. These repetitive motions can cause stress in your wrist and hand and can be mitigated by making sure your workstation is set up in a more ergonomic way. So many of us spend our days at desks and many chiropractic issues arise from this. The good news is that you can prevent many of these issues by working on your posture and making sure your workstation is set up properly.

What To Do For A Pinched Nerve In Your Neck

If your pinched nerve pain isn’t going away or you’re just sick of dealing with it, we can help! We see great results from using dry needling on pinched nerves.

Dry needling uses very thin dry needles that puncture the skin and slide through the tissue. The needles provide a constant mechanical stimulus to the trigger points while they’re in place, which is usually about 8-10 minutes. The mechanical stimulus provided is similar to what your muscles would get from a massage but because the needle doesn’t need to release pressure like a hand does when massaging a muscle, the pressure remains constant and is able to provide relief in a very short period of time. We like to say that dry needling is equivalent to a 60 minute deep tissue neck massage in just 10 minutes.

We follow up dry needling with a heat therapy like ultrasound, electrical muscle stimulation, or class 4 laser therapy. This helps bring fresh blood to the area which speeds up healing. Using heat therapy is not just effective when treating a pinched nerve in the neck, it’s also quite relaxing for the patient.

Are you dealing with pain from a pinched nerve? Give us a call at (410) 296-7700 or click here to schedule an appointment so we can help you start feeling better faster!