What it Means When They Say You Have a Pinched Nerve

A pinched nerve can give you localized pain, numbness, muscle weakness, and other common health complaints. You may also experience a feeling of pins and needles, neck or back pain, or loss of feeling in the affected area. The pain is usually due to inflammation or excessive pressure on the nerve root.

This type of injury occurs when a muscle, tendon, ligament, or other tissue is compressing a nerve. For example, herniated discs and bone spurs may compress the sciatic nerve, causing severe pain in the lower back and down the leg, notes the Mayo Clinic.

This condition is called sciatica and tends to affect one side of the body. Similarly, it's possible to have a pinched nerve in your cervical or thoracic area, which can cause pain in the arm, shoulder, chest, or buttocks, according to the experts at Preferred SurgiCenter. Most people recover from this condition, but some may experience permanent damage to the nerve(s), warns NINDS.

A pinched nerve can occur in many areas throughout the body. For example, a herniated disk in the lower spine may put pressure on a nerve root. This may cause pain that radiates down the back of your leg. Likewise, a pinched nerve in your wrist can lead to pain and numbness in your hand and fingers (carpal tunnel syndrome).

The nerves in your body can be compressed by the surrounding tissues. You then may feel a sharp pain that radiates to nearby muscles, causing weakness, numbness, and tingling. The pain and discomfort often worsen at night, says the Mayo Clinic. As the researchers note, this condition is more common in people who play sports or perform repetitive tasks, such as typing or painting.

Arthritis, obesity, and other disorders can lead to nerve compression, too. For example, excess weight can put pressure on the spine and nerves, which in turn may contribute to sciatica, per Spine Health. Nerve compression may also occur in people with diabetes. Clinical evidence suggests that about 25% of those suffering from this disorder have a pinched nerve in the wrist, per National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Thyroid disease, overuse injuries, and pregnancy can further increase the risk of nerve compression, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Pinched nerve signs and symptoms include:

• Numbness or decreased sensation in the area supplied by the nerve
• Sharp, aching or burning pain, which may radiate outward
• Tingling, pins and needles sensations (paresthesia)
• Muscle weakness in the affected area
• Frequent feeling that a foot or hand has "fallen asleep"

The problems related to a pinched nerve may be worse when you're sleeping.

Your symptoms may subside without treatment, but there are cases where a pinched nerve can lead to chronic pain and other complications, explains the Cleveland Clinic. Treatment usually consists of hot and cold therapy, rest, light exercise, and pain killers. If the nerve compression is due to an injury, you may need to wear a cervical collar, wrist splints, or back braces. Surgery is only recommended in severe cases where everything else has failed but always consult a doctor before doing any of the above.

Sometimes it can be difficult to determine whether the pain is coming from a muscle, joint or nerve. Nerve pain can mimic lots of different problems. A muscle pain that does not resolve with time or conservative treatment could possibly be an entrapped nerve. A joint that has pain where the pain can’t be reproduced by local testing may also be a pinched nerve. A nerve that is irritated in the spine doesn’t always produce pain at the site of irritation. It can produce pain along the travelled course of the nerve. Injury to only the sciatic nerve that originates in the lower back, can produce pain or numbness in only the foot, calve or hamstring muscle or any combination. Nerve entrapment in the spinal column is typically caused by a misalignment of vertebrae, a herniated or bulging disc, joint inflammation or osteoarthritis (spinal degeneration). There are other causes but not as common. When a nerve is irritated at the spinal level, pain is only one of the symptoms that may be felt. Burning, aching, numbness, tingling, itchiness, muscle twitching and muscle atrophy are a few other symptoms related to nerve pressure. 

Source: The List Mayo Clinic