Symptoms of a pinched nerve run the gamut from numbness in the limb affected by the nerve to excruciating pain in the extremity or along the spine. No matter how your body manifests the compressed nerve, sufferers need to know that the condition will probably not go away on its own and that there is help. A careful re-alignment for pinched nerve, however, can often provide significant relief.
How A Nerve Gets Pinched
The condition called a pinched nerve generally comes about because of excessive inflammation around the area where the nerve needs to pass through the tissues of your body.
For example, you may overdo it cleaning out the garage and have some muscle pain. If the muscles become inflamed, this pressure can compress the nerve sheath and cause challenging symptoms such as neck pain.
How Physical Therapy Can Help
For those who regularly suffer muscular inflammation after a good workout, physical therapy can provide relief by helping you develop a program for muscular strength that requires a lighter workout until you build the muscles to tolerate a heavier lifting session.
A good quality physical therapist will require you to make multiple return trips to work with the therapist. First of all, the inflammation needs to come down to determine realistic pain medications required. Then, you will be assigned a serious of exercises to strength the area around the nerve.
Finally, your physical therapist will give you homework and you will have to do it if you ever hope to feel better. Eventually, your sessions with the therapist will include an alignment check on their part to make sure your body is healing well.
Alignment and Awareness
As you exercise to build up the muscular tissues around the pinched nerve, regular appointments with your therapist are crucial. Your therapist can check your progress, correct any form issues you’re experiencing and keep you working out safely. With proper monitoring, your workouts should get easier as you build better exercise habits.
Good Pain Vs. Bad Pain
There are some who think the physical therapist’s job is to help you push through your pain. This is not correct. There will be times when your physical therapist has to encourage you to push harder. However, if your pain is insurmountable or isn’t steadily improving, your therapist can work with you and your physician to determine the source of your pain and the way forward to health.
