The nervous system is a vast messenger network that uses the brain, spinal cord, and your central and peripheral nerves to transmit information that manages and regulates essential functions we can’t do without. This includes many things we don’t even think about — from sensation, breathing patterns, and heartbeat to sleep rhythms, injury healing, and digestion.
The human nervous system even plays an integral role in puberty, aging, balance, coordination, thinking, learning, remembering, and recall.
Nerves can sustain damage in several ways, including the compression of peripheral nerves in your limbs (arms or legs). This is commonly called a pinched nerve, and while they can be painful and frustrating, if it’s left untreated it can lead to problems you’ll be struggling with a lot longer than you think.
If you’re coping with pinched nerve pain or another nerve-related pain problem, you can get comprehensive, expert care from Dr. Irfan Lalani and our team at Irfan Lalani MD, PA, in Sugar Land, Texas. Let’s take a closer look at how a seemingly harmless issue like a pinched nerve can lead to more worrisome nerve damage in the form of neuropathy.
Peripheral nerve compression happens when surrounding tissues, such as tendons, cartilage, ligaments, or bone, exert pressure on a nerve outside of your spine and cause it to constrict.
Because nerves run through your entire body, one that’s compressed can affect other body areas it’s connected to. For example, a nerve that’s compressed in your wrist can radiate pain and other symptoms into your hand and elbow.
Aside from pain, nerve compression can cause you to experience tingling, numbness, muscle weakness, or the sensation that part of your body has “fallen asleep.”
Nerve compression can also lead to nerve damage, or neuropathy. Peripheral neuropathy — which affects nerves in the arms or the legs — is the most common type of nerve damage; three other types include:
This type of neuropathy occurs in a single nerve, commonly in the hands, head, leg, or torso. It’s often due to nerve compression from an acute traumatic injury — or an overuse (repetitive stress) injury.
This rare form of nerve damage occurs when the nerves closer to the torso, like the ones in your shoulders, upper arms, hips, buttocks, and thighs, are injured by compression. It affects the lower body most often, and is usually linked to type 2 diabetes.
This type of damage affects the nerves that regulate “automatic” functions like heart rate, digestion, vision, blood pressure, and urination. It’s also frequently caused by type 2 diabetes.
In addition to diabetes, several other factors can lead to these types of neuropathy, such as alcohol abuse, autoimmune disease, vitamin D deficiency, Lyme disease, and shingles.
Pinched nerves can be unpleasant to live with, but aren’t generally serious unless they go untreated for too long — especially if they start to worsen as time goes on.
The damage to the nerve can become permanent, and that can be serious if it comes with symptoms like impaired balance and coordination, prolonged numbness and tingling, severe pain, and urinary incontinence.
The good news? Most pinched nerves are treatable — and with early intervention, most cases of peripheral neuropathy are preventable.
Are you experiencing the symptoms of a pinched nerve? We can help. Make an appointment with Dr. Lalani and our team at Irfan Lalani, MD, PA, today to get the comprehensive care you need to get relief and avoid complications.
