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• Pinched Nerve

What Is a Pinched Nerve?

Although millions of people worldwide suffer from pinched nerves, surprisingly few of us can answer the question: What is a pinched nerve? As its name suggests, a pinched nerve is a nerve that has become injured, damaged, or compressed (colloquially referred to as pinched) by adjacent muscles, ligaments, tendons, bones, or other soft tissue in the body.

Common Pinched Nerve Cause

With all of the tissue surrounding the nerves throughout our bodies, it’s easy to see how a nerve can get pinched. Let’s take a herniated disc in the spinal column as an example. Intervertebral discs are the cushions between the vertebrae in our back. When a disc herniates, the annulus fibrosus (the outer lining) tears, permitting the nucleus pulposus (a jelly-like substance inside the disc) to leak out into the spinal canal. If this leak impinges on adjacent nerve roots that are entering and exiting the spinal column through the intervertebral foramina (the small spaces between vertebrae), irritation occurs and your nerve is pinched.

Pinched Nerve Symptoms

Your nerves transmit messages via electrical impulses, enabling organs and muscles to communicate with the brain, and vice versa. When a nerve is pinched, its ability to transmit vital sensory information is diminished, leading to radiculopathy. Radiculopathy is irritation and inflammation of a nerve caused by a herniated disc or any other spine condition. Symptoms include:

• Pain radiating outward from the source of the pinched nerve
• Numbness and decreased sensation
• Localized paresthesia (“pins and needles” feeling)
• Muscle spasms, weakness, or twitching

The ideal solution is a preventative one: Avoid situations that put you at a greater risk for injury. Unfortunately, that's easier said than done. Herniated discs, bulging discs, overexertion, medical conditions such as obesity, osteoarthritis, and even hereditary factors, can all lead to the neural compression associated with painful pinched nerves?

Treatment Options

Conservative, non-surgical treatments under the supervision of your physician can help eliminate pain. These include:

• Steroid injections
• Relaxation
• Massage
• Physical therapy

Click Here to see how you can get your life back in 5 days

If conservative options for treatment haven’t worked for you and open back surgery is your next option, then you owe it to yourself to consider the minimally invasive, outpatient alternatives at Laser Spine Institute (LSI). The revolutionary endoscopic technology available at LSI can release pinched nerves and provide you with much-needed relief. Contact us today for a free review of your MRI or CT scan, or for more information about our procedures.

Please note: Laser Spine Institute currently does not perform endoscopic procedures on the thoracic spine.