subject: What Is A Pinch Nerve? [print this page] To understand what a pinched nerve is let us look at the anatomy of a nerve and it function. A nerve is like an electric cable, with many wires encased in an outer covering called a sheath. You can think of each individual wire as a microscopic garden hose. The green part of the hose is a fine membrane where a static electrical charge can travel to or from the brain. The inside of the hose transports fluid from the nerve cell body that helps nourish and replenish the ever-changing components of the green part, or membrane. If the nerve is pinched, the flow up and down the inside of the hose is reduced or blocked, meaning nutrients stop flowing. Eventually, the membrane starts to lose its healthy ability to transmit tiny electrical charges and the nerve fiber may eventually die. When enough fibers stop working, a muscle may not contract and skin may feel numb. These are typical symptoms that occur when a nerve is truly pinched.
So what is the probability that you have a pinched nerve and what causes
this problem? In chiropractic practice the likelihood of having a true pinched nerve is less than 20% of cases that walk into the door. These cases include disc problems, bone spurring, and spinal arthritic changes. The remaining 80%, or so, have skeletal or muscular problems that are producing referred pain that mimic a pinched nerve. Here are a few things to help distinguish the difference between a true pinched nerve and something else that could be referring pain.
One of the most common symptoms of a pinched nerve is numbness into an extremity with pain locally at the back or neck. Sometimes, nerves can be pinched and the only symptoms may be numbness and weakness in the arm or leg without pain. Other symptoms include tingling, burning, electric, and a hot/cold sensation. Numbness usually travels in a particular pattern following a specific line in a leg or arm, this helps determine where exactly the nerve is being compressed at. Symptoms that call for immediate medical attention include numbness that goes into the inner thighs in a saddle bag distribution, loss of bowel or bladder control, extreme pain in the left arm, or pain that last for more than a couple days.
If your pain persists for more than a couple of days, make an appointment to see your doctor. After more specifically diagnosing the cause of your pinched nerve, your doctor will be able to develop a treatment plan. This plan may include physical medicine, range of motion exercises, a referral for medication/injection, or surgical consultation. Very few patients end up needing surgery for pinched nerves; for most of them, non-surgical treatments work to relieve their pain.
