What is a Pinched Nerve?

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Pinched Nerve Sacramento Many of our patients don’t quite understand what a pinched nerve is. They come in saying their pain is not muscular; it’s a pinched nerve. Or they say their pinched nerve is acting up. Let us clear up what exactly a pinched nerve is, what can cause it, and ways to treat it.

A pinched nerve is a nerve that has unhealthy pressure on it. There are multiple culprits for this:

Muscle tension or enlargement
Vertebrae or other bones in a joint positioned incorrectly, right where a nerve is
Scar Tissue
Bone Spurs or stenosis (narrowing of bony spaces)
Enlarged or inflamed tissue taking up more space than it should

You don’t just wake up one morning with a pinched nerve. Something else is going on in your body that causes it. When we treat your pinched nerve, we need to understand what is happening in your body so we can manage it properly.

What Can Cause a Pinched Nerve?

Poor posture
Repetitive strain
Overuse
Blunt force injury
Compensation
Disc degeneration
Disc herniation

They are often caused by a combination of scenarios such as repetitive strain leading to poor posture, leading to muscles pulling bones out of position, leading to a pinched nerve. Another scenario is poor posture leading to stress on discs, allowing bones to rub against each other, creating bone spurs that grow large enough to press on a nerve. See how complex it can be?

How Do We Treat a Pinched Nerve?

Often times, people get a wellness massage to treat their pinched nerve. Therapy that feels relieving is great, but if you do not address the underlying cause, the problem will not go away. If you keep getting a treatment that only makes you feel better for a few days the issue will eventually get worse and become permanent.

Our orthopedic massage therapists are trained to perform comprehensive assessments of each patient. These exams include a history of injuries and current activities, posture and gait analysis, and a review of X-ray and MRI findings. After the assessment, we develop a customized treatment plan. If your injuries require treatment outside of orthopedic massage therapy, we will collaborate with other health care practitioners in Sacramento so we can make sure you get the care you need.

If you are suffering from a pinched nerve, give us a call at(916) 488.4223. We will gladly help you find the cause of the problem and take steps towards fixing it.

About the Author

Kym has been practicing massage therapy for 17 years. She graduated from the Northwest School of Massage in Seattle, Washington in 1996 and immediately went into medical massage therapy, treating auto accident injuries and working with physicians treating soft tissue dysfunctions. Throughout the years she has developed a unique technique that breaks the soft tissue holding patterns that develop from years of imbalance and cumulative minor injuries. She works to “reprogram” the muscles and connective tissue from the positions and habits that keep them out of balance and makes them prone to injury. She uses a combination of long, slow trigger point pressure, myofascial release, and range of motion techniques to retrain the body. This approach has both immediate and long term, long lasting effects. While her style is definitely therapeutic more people fall asleep during these sessions than during a Swedish massage. Come see the difference with Kym!