Pinched nerves

The sensation of a pinched nerve can be sharp, restrictive of motion, cause weakness, numbness and tingling. Interestingly, there are many different diagnoses that will cause symptoms of a pinched nerve, but the root cause is not a compressed nerve at the spine at all!

A few diagnoses that may present with those symptoms are myofascial trigger points, restriction of a rib, myofibrosis in multiple areas which compress a nerve along its path in the limb, osteoarthritis, and disc herniations. To treat symptoms of a pinched nerve correctly, diagnosis is key which is why history and examination is necessarily thorough: to differentiate and identify all the key contributors to symptoms and address them appropriately.