Your nerves travel throughout your body, connecting through a complex network that ultimately hooks up to your brain. When your body experiences sensations like heat, cold, or pain, your nerves relay electrical impulses to your brain that let you perceive and react.
However, if one of your nerves gets pinched or compressed within your body, the consequences for you can be painful, debilitating, and frustrating. You might find yourself wishing you had no nerves at all if you’ve been suffering from pain related to a pinched spinal nerve, or radiculopathy.
At the Total Spine Institute, experts Dr. Andrew Fox and Dr. Ryan Mattie offer effective treatment options to help with radiculopathy. We’ve got you covered, from soothing your symptoms to addressing the root cause of your pinched nerve pain. The Total Spine Institute team treats new and existing patients from locations in Sherman Oaks and Calabasas, California.
What are your options for treating a pinched spinal nerve? Here are five effective treatment options for addressing radiculopathy.
If your pinched nerve is related to a tensed muscle or swollen tendon, physical therapy exercises and stretches offer a minimally invasive way to gently resolve the root cause of the problem. Physical therapy is a common first option for treating radiculopathy symptoms like pain, numbness, or tingling in locations around your body.
Some aspects of your lifestyle may contribute to your pinched nerve problems. Do you need to adjust your posture at work or at rest to address a pinched nerve in your neck or upper back?
Repetitive stress can also contribute to nerve pain. If your work or hobbies involve repetitive stress, taking a break, or using better positioning or bracing, it can help with some types of resulting radiculopathy.
Being overweight or obese contributes to many musculoskeletal problems. When your body weight is higher, your bones and joints have more pressure to cope with, especially in your lower body.
Healthy weight loss may improve your condition if you have a type of radiculopathy like sciatica that causes pain in your lower back, buttocks, or legs. Losing just 5%-10% of your body weight will make a difference in your whole-body health!
When it comes to pain management and radiculopathy, you have options beyond over-the-counter pain medications — although those may be helpful, as well, when dealing with mild symptoms.
For pain symptoms that don’t see enough relief from over-the-counter medication, your provider at the Total Spine Institute may recommend pain-relieving injection therapy.
If a pinched spinal nerve doesn’t respond to conservative treatment options, you may need surgery to address an issue like spinal stenosis or disc herniation. The Total Spine Institute offers a full range of surgical procedures to restore your spine and take pressure off your nerves.
If you’re suffering from pain due to a pinched nerve, don’t delay contacting the team at the Total Spine Institute for diagnosis and treatment. Call our office now, or book your first appointment with our online scheduling tool.
