Pinched Nerve

A pinched nerve happens when something compresses or irritates a nerve — most often where it exits the spine through a narrow opening between vertebrae. A bulging disc, a misaligned joint, bone spurs, or swollen surrounding tissue can all take up space the nerve needs. The nerve responds the only way it can: pain, tingling, numbness, burning, or weakness, felt not just at the point of compression but anywhere along the nerve's path.

The neck is where we see this most. A pinched nerve in the cervical spine — what clinicians call cervical radiculopathy — sends symptoms traveling from the neck into the shoulder blade, down the arm, and into specific fingers depending on which nerve level is involved. Some people wake up with it after sleeping in an awkward position; for others it builds gradually from years of forward-head posture, a disc that has started to bulge, or joints that have lost healthy motion. A telling detail: the neck itself doesn't always hurt. Plenty of people come in for arm pain or hand tingling and are surprised to learn the source sits at the base of their neck.

The same mechanics play out lower down. A pinched nerve in the lumbar spine often shows up as sciatica — pain radiating through the buttock and down the leg. Wherever it happens, a compressed nerve is a mechanical problem, and it deserves a mechanical answer: find exactly where the pressure is and relieve it. Our new patient visit includes a consultation, a full neurological evaluation, and any necessary X-rays, so care decisions rest on what's actually happening in your spine rather than a guess.

Care at our office centers on the Torque Release Technique — a gentle, instrument-based adjustment with no twisting or cracking — to restore motion and position at the level compressing the nerve, with spinal decompression added when a disc is the driver. One honest distinction worth making: if numbness or burning affects both hands or both feet in a glove-and-stocking pattern, that points toward peripheral neuropathy — a different mechanism involving the nerves themselves rather than compression at the spine. Our sister practice, The Roots Neuropathy (therootsneuropathy.com), focuses on exactly that pattern.