A pinched nerve usually means a nerve root is irritated or compressed as it leaves the spine. That’s why the pain shows up along the nerve’s path, in an arm or a leg, rather than where it’s pinched. An exam that checks strength, sensation and reflexes comes first.
Sounds familiar?
Anything that narrows the space where a nerve leaves the spine can irritate it, and inflamed tissue can make even light pressure hurt. When the nerve is the sciatic nerve, our sciatica page goes further; when it starts with a stiff, sore neck, see neck pain.
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A bulging or herniated disc can press on a nerve root right where it leaves the spine.
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Bone spurs, and changes in spinal alignment or in how a joint moves, can narrow the space a nerve passes through.
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Irritated tissue releases chemicals that make a nearby nerve more sensitive, so modest pressure can cause sharp, burning or electric pain. It’s one reason symptoms don’t always match the size of a disc change.
These need prompt medical care, not an adjustment.
What the exam finds decides the care, and whether chiropractic care suits you at all. Dr. Kalay explains the findings and the plan before anything begins.
For the joints around the nerve
Adjustments work on how the joints around an irritated nerve move, to ease the mechanical stress on it, not to force a painful movement or “put a nerve back.” Whether to adjust, and where, comes from your exam, and care is changed or put off if the findings call for it.
How it worksWhen a disc is the cause
When the exam points to a disc, the DRX9000 is angled to the one disc level behind your symptoms and gently stretches the spine in timed cycles to take pressure off the nerve.
How it worksFor inflamed tissue around the nerve
Therapeutic light from a robotic laser, aimed at the inflamed tissue around an irritated nerve to ease pain and swelling, with no downtime.
How it worksWhere every plan starts
A consultation and exam to find the cause, then a plan you understand before care begins. Your first consultation is complimentary.
I had a pinch nerve which caused numbness that traveled from my neck down to the right side of the arm and in just a few sessions, he relieved my pain...
“I had been low back in pain for years and also two plus years where from my neck down to my finger tips were numb 24/7.”
Reviews are quoted as written. Individual results vary.
Reviewed by
Dr. Gurj Kalay, DC
Doctor of Chiropractic, Palmer College of Chiropractic West (2014)
General information, not medical advice. Your own exam decides your care.
No treatment is risk-free, which is why the exam decides whether to adjust at all, and where. It covers your history, the movements that ease or worsen your symptoms, and checks of strength, sensation and reflexes. If the findings make a technique a poor fit, care is changed or put off, and you should say so if anything hurts during a visit.
Bring any X-rays, MRIs or records you already have to your first visit. Beyond that, X-rays are taken when your case needs them. If the exam points to a need for further medical evaluation before treatment, you’ll be told before any care starts.
Sciatica is one kind of pinched nerve: a compressed sciatic nerve in the low back, felt through the buttock and down the leg. A pinched nerve in the neck sends symptoms into the shoulder, arm or hand instead. The exam checks which nerve is involved.
Without warning signs, chiropractic care can be one conservative option, and the exam decides whether it suits you. Warning signs such as new weakness or numbness in an arm or leg, or any change in bladder or bowel control, mean a medical doctor first, and if it could be an emergency, call 911.
The exam, adjustments and spinal decompression, all on Century Park Drive. The clinic serves Yuba City, Marysville, Live Oak, Gridley, Plumas Lake, Olivehurst, Wheatland and Colusa.
Call or book online. Your first consultation with Dr. Kalay is complimentary.
New patient? Send the new patient form and the team will contact you to set up your first visit.
New patient special437 Century Park Dr Ste A · Yuba City, CA
