Areas like your shoulders, neck, and legs can easily last between a year and several years. With treatment, most pinched nerves can be healed in a few weeks.
Luckily, pinched nerves are treatable. A chiropractor from Specific Care Chiropractic can diagnose the cause of your nerve-related symptoms, treat the underlying problem, and help you experience symptom relief. We may use a range of adjustments and secondary treatments tailored to your healthcare needs.
Seeing a chiropractor for a pinched nerve has been found to reduce these symptoms in most people, making chiropractic care an efficient, and non-invasive solution to this pressing problem.
In most cases, symptoms improve and nerve function resumes to normal within 6 to 12 weeks of conservative treatment. Conservative treatment options include physical therapy, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) like ibuprofen.
In most situations, a pinched nerve may last anywhere from a few days to a few months in severe scenarios. The best thing you can do to possibly reduce the time you're experiencing the pinched nerve issue is to seek the appropriate medical care as soon as possible.
A pinched nerve can become serious, causing chronic pain, or even lead to permanent nerve damage.
Pinched nerve pain starts to dull
When a nerve is compressed or pinched, this disrupts the healthy functioning of the nerve. As you heal from a pinched nerve, the pain will weaken and may feel more like a dull, throbbing pain that occurs less often.
Can a pinched nerve become permanent? The answer is most of the time a pinched nerve will get better with rest and over-the-counter medications. It can, however, become a chronic condition, so you should see a doctor if you don't see improvement within a few days.
Symptoms of a pinched nerve in the low back include: A sharp pain in the back that may travel all the way to your foot. Pain that may become worse with certain activities like sitting or coughing. Numbness of the skin in areas of the leg or foot.
The doctor will ask you questions about your pain and medical history, and do a physical examination to determine if you have a pinched nerve or another issue. If your doctor suspects it could be a pinched nerve, you will have an MRI, a type of imaging that can highlight where the nerve might be compressed.
Using cervical or lumbar traction machines can aid in helping to open the joints of the spine up to take pressure off of the disc and allow for the bulge and herniation to absorb back to where it needs to be. Chiropractic treatment for bulging or herniated discs is safe, effective, and long lasting.
Research Shows Why Massage Can Help With Pinched Nerves
If muscle tension is the cause of the pressure on your nerve, massage therapy may provide the relief you seek. Try a gentle, relaxing Swedish massage, which will loosen up your tense muscles and may release the pressure around your nerve.
A chiropractor is always worth a try before turning to something extreme like surgery. Usually, the chiropractor will re-position bone and relax the muscles to reduce any pressure on the nerves. So the next time you're getting that tingling and pain, try massage therapy. It feels great and may help eliminate your pain.
The most frequently recommended treatment for a pinched nerve is rest for the affected area. Your doctor will ask you to stop any activities that cause or aggravate the compression. Depending on the location of the pinched nerve, you may need a splint, collar or brace to immobilize the area.
The chiropractor can perform safe and precise adjustments to correct the cause of your “pinched nerve”. The primary goal of the adjustment is to restore mobility to the affected joint. The pressure, speed and amplitude of an adjustment are adapted to each person.
If left untreated, a pinched nerve can cause severe complications, including permanent nerve damage.
In some rare cases, a pinched nerve can get worse and lead to prolonged weakness, tingling, or numbness in the arm, shoulder, or hand. In these cases, nerve restriction can lead to damage, which requires treatment to avoid permanent changes.
Recovery is a slow process, and the biggest thing you can do to regain nerve sensation and function is to move consistently. You may experience tingling feelings and possibly sensations similar to electrical shock, which is a good sign of having new sensitive nerves.
Numbness or decreased sensation in the area supplied by the nerve. Sharp, aching or burning pain, which may radiate outward.
Nerve pain often feels like a shooting, stabbing or burning sensation. Sometimes it can feel as sharp and sudden as an electric shock. You may be very sensitive to touch or cold. You may also experience pain as a result of touch that would not normally be painful, such as something lightly brushing your skin.
MRI. MRIs create images using a radiofrequency magnetic field, a technique that clearly shows pinched nerves, disc disease, and inflammation or infections in the spinal tissues. MRI is usually the preferred imaging for pinched nerves.
A person with a pinched nerve should avoid any movements that irritate the nerve. They should also try to sleep in a position that relieves the pressure on the nerve.