What to do for a pinched nerve? archived

some people would say any kind of physical therapy would be the way to go: kineisiology, osteopathy, chiro or straight-out physiotherapy. Perhaps speak to a sports medicine trainer/therapist and see what they'd suggest, and what your insurance would support.

My husband has been suffering with a pinched nerve since July. His treatment began by our PCP was a round of prednisone - this was ineffective as were a few other mediciinal recommendations. He has had MRI's which did not show a whole lot. He is under the care of a neurologist now who did a test (EMG) to uncover exactly which nerve or nerves were being impinged and sent him for a cycle of physical therapy. This greatly reduced his symptoms but did not completely resolve the numbness and pain he was experiencing. The Neurologist prescribed another (stronger) round of prednisone to take away any inflamation which has further reduced symptoms. The Neurologist will re-assess in 6 weeks if symptoms are still present.

I would say given my husband's experience you should not dilly-dally with your PC. Get a referrel to a neurologist and get the appropriate tests. A neurologist can use shots of steroids to relieve nerve pain but will also prescribe physical therapy if they feel that is the right course.

How long have you been carrying daughter? Have you found a new way to transport her, because you have to stop pinching your nerve right away. Nerve damage is slow, and so is recovery.

I had a pinched sciatic nerve for months, and to me, it's the worst kind of pain. I ended up having surgery, which did me good. After surgery, I was pain free, but it took about a year or two to gain my (little) flexibility back.

My daughter was about 6 months old when this started. A couple of weeks after the numbness began, i realized what was causing it (i used to use one leg to help propel the heavy carseat forward as i walked). I immediately stopped carrying her in the seat, and now i always remove her from the car and carry her in my arms.

While I did have a touch of rather uncomfortable sciatica on and off while i was pregnant, this is different. It's not painful at all. Just a little disconcerting to have almost no feeling at all in one part of your body.

But even if it's not painful, don't tolerate it.

I second the neurologist recomendation. NSAIDs like celebrex can help reduce the inflamation and threfore the pain. Physical therapy is a must so you build the muscles around the injury so as to relieve the pressure and stretching and exercise regularly will help - but do not exercise through pain.

tom, could i pick your brain about your surgery? my dad, who's in his 70's, is in the midst of a terrible bout of sciatica due to spinal stenosis. he's had a couple of steroid injections into the spine, but it's not helping, so he's seeing a surgeon this week.
is recovery from the surgery difficult? anything you think it's necessary to ask about?

thank you

i just realized...
sorry, papayagirl. i shouldn't have interrupted with a question of my own. hope you're feeling normal again soon!

Tom's surgeon, Dr. Hooshangi in Edison, is excellent and highly recommended. (He did my wife in May, and she's became mobile for the first time in nearly nine months about two weeks after.)

He's also good for consultation; he won't do surgery just for the sake of doing it.

See I would really try the chiropractor. I am seeing one now for a pinched/compressed nerve in my elbow. It really helped the other day. Because of how you have been doing thing you most likely also threw out your back.
You really so not want to go with the surgery. Too many people I know have surgery for pinched nerves and end up with scare tissue and other issues. I would try the chiropractor or acupuncture before surgery.

leighan, my father is suffering from that, too. It's awful. And he says he can't have surgery, so there's virtually no hope for him. In very little time, he has become a cripple. He's homebound. My big, strong Daddy is a cripple. I still haven't grasped this.

Spinal stenosis is much harder to treat than a herniated disc. I nearly jumped out of bed after surgery. I would guess it's harder with spinal stenosis. Also, I was 27, and your dad is not.

Tom, for your dad l'd definitely seek out a physical therapist would support a home service for older people, and could deliver that Otago program. (http://www.rnzcgp.org.nz/news/nzfp/Dec2004/Taylor_Dec_04.pdf it's not a cure, but can offer some relief, can be customized and can also help with a few of the other issues you've discussed on MOL) Surely there would be someone in that great country of yours with a progressive approach to at-home care for community-dwelling older folk?? Feel free to e-mail me at home for more details.

He does have a physical therapist who comes in the home. Thanks. And it does help. He is committed to keeping up with daily exercise.

Someone I know had this experience (and I have it right bcause I've heard it tooooo many times): He got neck pain down into near the shoulderblade with tingling in an arm after a horse ran away with him; he didn't fall, just got terribly bounced around. Someone said he should go to a chiropractor. He'd never been to one but went. Chiro took x rays and said he had a pinched nerve between the nth and the xth (I don't remember the numbers) cervical vertabrae and he needs therapy there 2 times a week for a couple of weeks. My friend was brought up with belief in MDs, so he thanked the chiro and went to a local sports-medecine orthopod. The orthopod took x rays and said my friend had a pinched nerve between the [same 2] cervical vertabrae and had to come for therapy 5x a week and (some kind of) sound and heat therapy for a couple of months. Guy, believing in MDs, went with the orthopod, went through all the stuff...no relief. Goes back to the chiro who put him on a pulling-the-neck-out stretching table (think medieval torture rack, but it didn't hurt) and...tingling went away Went back a few more times...no more pain.

Anyway, with all the good suggestions above, just another suggestion:try (almost) anything else before surgery.

blockquote>Posted By: klhTom's surgeon, Dr. Hooshangi in Edison, is excellent and highly recommended. (He did my wife in May, and she's became mobile for the first time in nearly nine months about two weeks after.)

:cheer::cheer:<

Sorry but that was just too funny

Actually I love Dr. Levine in South Orange. He is a chiropractor and has helped me many a times. I have a chronic bad back and sciatic nerve issues since I broke my hip twice now. He is my saving grace. If he thinks there is too much inflamation he will not touch you right then and there. I would definetly recommend going for an evaluation as I spent months on steriods, painkillers, etc which did nothing but temporarily relief the inflammation and pain which would come back soon after I stopped taking them. Be careful how long they put you in prednisone or other antinflammatory medication. They are not healthy over the long run. I had my 8 months bouts with Bextra and Viox and other then getting a good scare when they were pulled they did not much.

I think chiropracters get a bad rap because there are a few bad ones out there. I've heard too many success stories about them to believe their entire field is wack.

A good chiropractor knows when to refer you to an orthopedic or otherwise. For example, when I was in a car accident, my chiropractor told me at what point she could no longer treat me. I had to wait several months to see her because of the problems I was having with my back, but I was being treated by an ortho. Right now I am experiencing nerve pain in my leg (numbness, fiery pain) that I had at the time of the accident, but have not had in a while. Since I am pregnant, I am seeing my chiropractor because I cannot take meds anyway. She is really wonderful if you need a suggestion. I have been using her for over 10 years.

tom, i'm sorry that your father is going thru this too. it IS very scary when men who never complained before (like our fathers) suddenly become incapacitated by pain.
my father has tried chiropractic and acupunture with no relief. he's seeing a pain specialist now, but coming to the conclusion that he's kind of a quack who has patients who just want a drug fix. he's seeing a surgeon on thursday to see if he's a candidate for surgical intervention. i wish i could talk him into having the surgery here in NJ instead of in florida where my parents live now.

but thank you so much for sharing your experience with me.

About 10 years ago, a neurologist prescribed a very low dose trycyclic (sp?) antidepressant for the severe pain I had in my neck and head after a car accident. I forgot the exact name of the drug, but it the drug combined with PT worked and the pain went away entirely.

I started out with regular old PT recommended by an ortho, then went to a chiro, then got cortisone shots by a rehab medicine doc(physiatrist). None of that worked.

My advice to is to go to a neurologist.

I googled "antidepressant and nerve pain" and it is still a standard protocol.

Good luck!

Thanks everyone. Sounds like have lots of options... now i just need to figure out which one to go with. Doing nothing definitely seems like it's pretty low on the list.

Oh, and anti-inflammatory drugs are out for now because i'm still breastfeeding. How i'll ever manage potential chiropractor/physical therapy appts 3x/week with 2 kids and a full-time job for a while, i don't know (i'm going through the same dilemma with my plantar fasciitis right now), but i'll roll with it like everything else.