Trapped nerves can be a pain in the neck! Nerves are the message highway of the body. They send messages from your brain to all parts of your body and vice versus. When you have a trapped nerve, the only message it sends your brain is pain. A trapped nerve becomes trapped or pinched by a nearby bone, muscle, ligament or even inflammation build-up and the pain felt is a warning signal sent from the nerve to your brain letting you know something isn’t right. These warning signals shouldn’t be ignored.

Damage to a nerve when it becomes trapped can be minor or severe. This damage can cause temporary or long-lasting problems. The earlier you get your trapped nerve seen to, the quicker a treatment plan can be made to relieve the pain.

In rare cases of trapped nerves, it can be very difficult to reverse the damage. However, the right treatments can usually relieve all the pain and other symptoms. We will talk about The Mayfair Clinic’s treatments for trapped nerves in just a bit, but first, let’s discuss what causes trapped nerves.

What are the causes of trapped nerves?

A trapped nerve occurs when a pressure is put on the nerve. This pressure can be the result of repetitive motions, but it may also be the result of holding your body in a position for several hours, sleeping in an odd position, for example.

Nerves are vulnerable in places in your body where they travel through narrow spaces, the carpal tunnel on your wrist, for example. These spaces have very little soft tissue to protect the nerve, and if the nerve begins to rub on the bone, this can cause swelling which causes compression leading to a “trapped nerve”. So, trapped nerves are most often caused by a nerve being between tissues like bone, ligaments and tendons.

An example of this is when there is pressure on a nerve root exiting the spine. The pressure or inflammation can cause neck or lower pain back. However, the pain signal can also travel down the nerve and cause shoulder, arm, leg and foot pain.

These symptoms may be due to a change that develops between your spinal bones. For example, if a disc herniates, this can put pressure on the spinal nerves and then cause a trapped nerve and pain (this is commonly called sciatica). A nerve under pressure in your neck or back can cause symptoms to pop up all over your body including:

Symptoms of trapped nerves

Trapped nerves are a tricky business when it comes to talking about symptoms. Some people with trapped nerves only have pain. While other people may have other symptoms and no pain. Some of the most common symptoms of trapped nerves include:

  • Pins and needles or a burning sensation
  • Pain in the trapped nerve area
  • Radiating pain in the legs and arms
  • Tingling and numbness
  • Weakness

Sometimes these symptoms will get worse with certain activities and movements, when turning your head, for example. The fact that the symptoms can be completely different for each person with a trapped nerve, makes it vital that you see a professional for the most appropriate treatment for your trapped nerve.

Treating trapped nerves

Just like all of our treatment programmes, our treatment for trapped nerves begins with a consultation. During this consultation, we ask you lots of questions about your medical history and more to determine if you’ve ever suffered from trapped nerves before and why they might be recurring. We will then perform a medical exam. This initial exam is done to explore the sight of the pain and try to find a rough location of the centre of the problem.

After the medical exam, we will sometimes send you for imaging tests like MRI scans or X-rays, if you haven’t already had them. These imaging tests can sometimes help us to find the exact location of the problem and the reason for it. We may find that the trapped nerve is being pushed by a muscle causing the discomfort or we may find that the pain is coming from a nerve affected by a herniated disc. After we have all the information we need, we can begin developing a treatment plan to suit you.

Your treatment plan will involve some of our ground-breaking technology that can massively help with the pain. One of these treatments is laser therapy. This is a non-invasive treatment used to increase oxygen, mineral and blood flow to a particular area. This helps to speed up the natural recovery process already taking place at the site of the pain. The laser can also help to reduce scarring in the area, so if you’ve had your trapped nerve for a while, the chances of it scarring are reduced a lot.

Depending on what is causing your trapped nerve, you may also benefit from our Spinal Decompression and Spinal Impulse Adjusting treatments. These are used to correct issues with the spine, like herniated discs for example. If we find that your trapped nerve is actually a symptom of a back condition during the initial consultation, we will use these treatments to correct the problem with your spine. As we correct the issue, the trapped nerve should begin to release, and your pain and other symptoms will reduce.

You can learn more about how treatment works and what you can expect when you visit us by watching the short videos on this page. You can also submit a contact form at the bottom of the page if more convenient.

Contact Us.

Email Us

info@themayfairclinic.com

Call Us

0203 947 32 22

Clinic Address

4 Cavendish Square, London, W1g 0PG.