How Do I Tell If It’s A Pinched Nerve or Something Else?

You have sharp pain in your back, leg, wrist, neck, or somewhere else. When you do an internet search, it seems that maybe you have a pinched nerve. Either that or you have a damaged nerve. How can you tell, and what should you do?

Nerve cells (aka neurons) are the basic unit of your nervous system. Your body has about 100 billion of them. Neurons are composed of several parts:

The cell body, including the cell nucleus
Extensions called axons
Extensions called dendrites

The axons and dendrites allow neurons to communicate with one another and transmit signals to and from your brain. Bundles of axons are called nerves.

If you feel pain, your nerves are involved in some way. Without nerves to signal your brain that there’s damage to some part of your body, you wouldn’t feel the damage.

So, when you develop acute or chronic pain, it always involves your nerves. When you feel pain but its triggering source isn’t obvious, you may wonder if you have a condition called a pinched nerve. Pinched nerves occur when one or more nerves are trapped or irritated by nearby tissue.

At Addison Pain + Regenerative Medicine in Addison, Texas, Dr. John East diagnoses and treats pinched nerves and other pain conditions.

Is a pinched nerve behind your pain, or is it something else? Following is a brief guide to help you understand your pain before you receive a medical diagnosis and treatment plan.

How nerves get pinched

A nerve is “pinched” when it receives too much pressure from surrounding tissue. This can occur in a number of ways. For instance, a vertebral disc may slip out of place in your spine and press against one or more nerves, causing pain to radiate throughout your back or down your leg.

When you have pain in your wrist, the pinched nerve is your median nerve. This nerve runs through the carpal tunnel — a hollow, bony structure in your wrist. The carpal tunnel contains your median nerve, plus tendons and ligaments that service your fingers.

When your tendons or ligaments become inflamed due to overuse, the space in your carpal tunnel narrows even more. This can press on your median nerve, causing pain, numbness, and other symptoms.

What pinched nerves feel like

Symptoms from a pinched nerve tend to worsen at night when you’re trying to sleep. They can also impair your comfort and performance during the day. You may experience:

Sharp or aching pain
Pain that radiates outward from a center point
Pain that gets referred to a limb
Numbness in the affected area
Muscle weakness
Feeling like your hand or foot has fallen asleep

If your nerve is pinched, relieving the pressure on it may resolve your pain. For instance, if you have a pinched nerve in your spine, chiropractic traction or manual adjustments may relieve the pressure. Or, you might wear a brace on your wrist or neck.

When your nerve has been pinched for some time, it may be damaged and require other treatments, such as regenerative medicine. You may also benefit from pain-blocking treatments, including trigger point injections or nerve blocks.

Other conditions that can feel like a pinched nerve

Neuropathy is another condition that closely mimics the symptoms of a pinched nerve. You’re at high risk for developing neuropathy if you have:

Diabetes type 1 or 2
Lupus
Rheumatoid arthritis
Lyme disease
Lymphoma

If you have neuropathy, your nerves have been damaged. This could occur as a result of high blood glucose levels (i.e., diabetes) or inflammation from an autoimmune disease. Sometimes, a pinched nerve, such as that in your carpal tunnel, can develop neuropathy due to extensive damage.

Ironically, if you have neuropathy, your nerves could be so damaged that you have an absence of pain. This can be dangerous since you could injure your foot, for example, and not notice until the wound becomes infected. If you have diabetes and neuropathy, you must take extra care of your feet and get wound treatment right away, even if they don’t hurt.

How to treat your nerve pain

Your treatment plan may differ based on whether you have a pinched nerve or neuropathy. We start your examination with tests for muscle weakness and reflexes. We may diagnose your nerve problem using X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, or electromyography.

Once we know what’s causing your pain, we devise an individualized treatment plan. This may include supportive therapies to help your nerves heal and immediate pain relief. We may also recommend immediate pain relief and long-term healing with biological therapies such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP).

Do you think you have a pinched nerve? Get a diagnosis and treatment by calling our office at 972-380-0000 or requesting an appointment online today.