Imagine your lower back.
It connects your lower body to your upper body via the spinal column, tissue, tendons, and miles of nerves. There’s a place for everything though it’s not hard for parts of your body to shift and sometimes get out of place.
Take a pinched nerve in your lower back for instance.
Why Do Nerves Get Pinched?
When a nerve is pinched is often because a bone, tendon, or other matter has shifted out of place and is pressing on the nerve.
According to The Mayo Clinic, “A pinched nerve occurs when too much pressure is applied to a nerve by surrounding tissues, such as bones, cartilage, muscles or tendons. This pressure disrupts the nerve’s function, causing pain, tingling, numbness or weakness.”
Sometimes a pinched nerve in the lower back is related to a herniated disc. Arthritis, a fall or injury, or other health matters can pinch a nerve.
What Are the Symptoms of a Pinched Nerve in the Lower Back?
No matter the cause of the pinched nerve in your lower back, it’s due to compression of the last five vertebrae. You may feel sharp pain, tingling, numbness, and weakness in your lower back all the way to your feet.
How is a Pinched Nerve Diagnosed?
A physical exam with your doctor will help determine if a pinched nerve is the cause of your lower back pain. Do you have a reduced range of motion? Are you experiencing balance problems?
Here at your Doylestown chiropractor, we’ll ask about your medical history. We’ll also conduct an x-ray to see what’s going on in your lower back. Nerves get pinched for many reasons. Our goal is to determine the source of your pain. That way, we can recommend treatment options and help you find relief.
Find Pinched Nerve Pain Relief
There are many ways you can find pinched nerve relief like these.
Gentle Yoga Stretches – If you’re not a yogi, try a beginner class or one that’s called Gentle Yoga or Yin Yoga. These classes typically use props like blankets and blocks to support your body. A skilled teacher will help you find postures that reduce the pressure on your nerve and lower back so that you can find relief.
Acupuncture – Traditional Chinese Medicine uses an ancient system called “meridians” to locate points on your body where tiny needles can be inserted. The needles stimulate a healing response in your body.
Massage Therapy – A skilled massage therapist will work deep into your tissues to help them loosen. Combined with chiropractic adjustments, massage can help your body benefit even more from chiropractic treatment. Why? Because while chiro helps your bones and tendons go back to their rightful places while massage helps them stay there.
Chiropractic Treatment – A chiropractic adjustment may be your quickest solution to pain relief. For many people, a few spinal manipulations will provide near-instant relief which is great for short term pain relief. We’ll craft a treatment plan for your long-term healing.
Of course, there’s no “one and done” solution for a pinched nerve in the lower back. Any treatment will require multiple applications for longer-term pain relief and you may find a combination of things works the best. If you’re in pain and in the Doylestown, PA area, come see us. We’d love to help.
