How To Treat A Pinched Nerve In Neck

My name is Dirk Laubscher. I've been a physiotherapist for over the last ten years and working in Harley Street for the last six, and today, I'm going to talk to you guys about the causes and the management of back pain. How to treat a pinched nerve in the neck.

Now, the treatment of a pinched nerve in the neck is pretty much the same as the treatment of a pinched nerve in the back. Firstly, you have to understand what has really happened and again, if I can just quickly explain, the disc that pushes out that compresses the nerve where it goes out of the spinal column. Alright, how we treat that – it's very essential that when it happens, the sooner you see someone for help, the better.

Again, physiotherapists like myself, we're very well trained to treating that and again, the more acute and the sooner you come and see us, the better your chances of getting rid of it. We use a technique or I use a technique by Rowan MacKenzie, a New Zealander, with a very effective folder of pinched nerve because the goal of that is just to relieve the pressure of the nerve and it's very important. It's essential that as soon as it happens - you'll know if it happens because you get severe pain on the arm, that's basically what a pinched nerve causes - is to know what stuff to do, what stuff not to do because certainly it will make it worse.

In most cases, it's bending your head forward or looking backwards and it's very important that we assist you and we see exactly what movements you should completely avoid. Then, also, the treatment when seeing a pain specialist, what they can do is injections where they inject cortisone into that area where the disc is pushing on the nerve. The purpose of cortisone is to kill the inflammation and then if it's a very bad disc, a prolapse, a very bad pinched nerve, then surgery's probably indicated.

And again, as I explained before, it's essential that you get proper rehabilitation if you do get surgery or an injection. .