Pinched Nerve Treatment Chiropractor | Lakeland FL | New City Chiropractic

Are you suffering from back pain and need pinched nerve pain relief? Call New City Chiropractic in Lakeland for an appointment with an experienced pinched nerve chiropractor and be on your way to a pain-free back! Our pinched nerve pain relief treatment will get your spinal nerves back into alignment without the need for potentially dangerous prescriptions or invasive surgeries. Call our Lakeland chiropractic clinic or make an appointment online today!

What is a Pinched Nerve?

A pinched nerve occurs when surrounding elements such as bones, muscles, tendons, or cartilage put pressure on a nerve—essentially “pinching it.” The pressure from the hard or soft tissue irritates the nerve, often resulting in numbness, pain, and tingling sensations. This affliction can develop at numerous sites within your body.

Pinched nerves and their symptoms are generally very treatable through chiropractic care, including pinched nerve decompression and chiropractic pinched nerve adjustments. Rarely are invasive procedures necessary to treat the problem.

What Causes Pinched Nerve Pain?

The source of a pinched nerve is surrounding tissues putting excessive pressure or compressing a nerve, and that can present in a number of ways.

For example, disc herniation occurs in your spinal column when the soft center, or nucleus, of a disc pushes through a rupture or tear in the hard exterior, or annulus. The condition crowds the spinal canal, putting pressure on a nerve root. Carpal tunnel syndrome, another common type of pinched nerve, can arise from the median nerve being compressed by one of a number of tissues, including an enlarged bone, thickened or degenerated ligament, or swollen tendon sheaths.

In some cases, repetitive motions, strenuous movement, or a single injury received during athletic activities or a car accident can cause muscles and tendons to pinch nerves.

Although pinched nerves can occur at numerous locations within your body, certain sites are particularly vulnerable. For example, nerve compression tends to develop where nerves have to travel through narrow spaces, with little protection from soft tissues, or where they are pressed between a tendon, ligament and/or bone.

Certain conditions can increase your susceptibility to getting a pinched nerve. These risk factors include:

  • Bone spurs: Osteoarthritis, a condition that causes bone thickening, can lead to bone spurs, which narrow the space through which your nerves travel. With less space, your nerves are more vulnerable and at risk of being compressed.

  • Rheumatoid arthritis: This condition causes inflammation, particularly in the joints, which in turn puts excessive pressure on nerves.

  • Thyroid disease: Studies show that individuals who have a chronic thyroid condition also are more susceptible to carpal tunnel syndrome.

  • Diabetes: If you have diabetes, you also are more at-risk of nerve compression.

  • Overuse: Certain jobs or activities involve repetitive movements or cause you to be in one position for a long duration, both of which can cause pinched nerves.

  • Obesity:  When people carry excess weight, it puts extra pressure on their nerves.

  • Pregnancy: The weight and water gain that comes along with pregnancy can lead to swelling along nerve pathways, which in turn causes nerve compression.

  • Prolonged bed rest: Although rest is a good thing, lying down or being in a single position for too long puts people more at-risk for pinched nerves.

Pinched Nerve Symptoms

When you have a pinched nerve, you can experience a number of discomforting or irritating symptoms that disrupt your day-to-day activities. The most common symptoms of a pinched nerve include:

  • Tingling sensations or the feeling of being stuck with pins and needles (paresthesia)

  • Numbness or decreased sensation in the body parts that are served by the compressed nerve

  • Aching or sharp pain that starts in the affected area and radiates outward to other body parts and extremities

  • Weakened muscles in the affected area that can hinder their normal functions

  • The frequent sensation of your foot or hand “falling asleep”

Pinched nerves generally leave no traces of damage, especially if they persist for only a short duration. Once the pressure is removed, the nerve will continue to function as normal. If, however, the nerve is compressed for a long period of time, it can result in permanent nerve damage and chronic pain.

Additionally, while symptoms may be most severe in the problem area, they are not always localized. Depending on the site of the pinched nerve, you may experience pain, numbness, or tingling that spreads, traveling through the buttocks, thigh and back of your leg (sciatic nerve pain and lumbar radiculopathy), or through your arms and fingers (cervical radiculopathy).

Certain symptoms may intensify when you are sleeping, especially if you sleep in a certain position that puts continual pressure on the affected site, or when you engage in particular motions, such as twisting your spine or straining your neck.

Diagnosis of Pinched Nerves

Though a pinched nerve may go away on its own with rest, the cause of the pinched nerve should be addressed to avoid further injury and pinched nerve pain. The skilled chiropractors at New City Chiropractic conduct a thorough physical examination and evaluate your health history to determine your risk factors. To confirm the diagnosis, your chiropractor may need to schedule x-rays or further tests, including ultrasounds,  MRIs, or nerve conduction studies.

Pinched Nerve Treatment

Chiropractic treatment for pinched nerve pain is safe, non-invasive, and effective. As the underlying cause of most pinched nerves is pressure from surrounding nerves, chiropractic therapies are useful in helping to relieve the pressure and accompanying symptoms. After taking into consideration your particular problem and symptoms, as well as your normal activity level and health history, your pinched nerve chiropractor will recommend a treatment program that will likely include acute pinched nerve pain relief treatment as well as strengthening therapies to prevent reinjury. Common chiropractic pinched nerve treatments include:

  • Pinched Nerve Adjustment: Your chiropractor can conduct gentle and specific adjustments to bones and other tissues that helps draw them away from pinched nerves and settle back into normal positions where they are not causing compression. When the body is in the right alignment, it can help address the root cause of pinched nerves.

  • Flexion/Distraction: Particularly useful for herniated discs in the spine, this distractive, gentle technique help decompress the affected region and readjust the displaced disc, allowing it to move back in place. Doing so alleviates the pressure from the nerve root.

  • Pinched Nerve Decompression: Often called nonsurgical spinal decompression, this treatment utilizes mechanical traction to gently stretch the spine. This removes pressure from the tissue surrounding the nerves. Decompression encourages proper circulation to the affected area, allowing tissue to heal and preventing reoccurrence of the pinched nerve.

  • Heat/Cold Therapies: Applying heat and cold to pinched provides pinched nerve pain relief and promotes healing. Ice or cold packs applied to the affected areas causes gentle numbing and pain relief and can decrease inflammation. Heat improves circulation by dilating blood vessels, which increases the oxygen and nutrients to the tissue surrounding the pinched nerve and promotes healing.

As chiropractors, we are concerned with overall health and wellness, and we consider how a localized problem such as a pinched nerve can negatively impact other body parts or aspects of your health. We seek to enable the body to heal itself and reduce the need for medications and invasive surgical procedures.

Schedule an Appointment

If you need a pinched nerve chiropractor in the Lakeland, Florida area, call New City Chiropractic. Let our skilled team design a treatment plan for you that will get you quick, lasting pinched nerve pain relief! Call or make an appointment online today!