Don't cross your legs or lie in any one position for a long time.

The following measures may help you prevent a pinched nerve: Long periods of lying down can increase the risk of nerve compression. Water and weight gain associated with pregnancy can swell nerve pathways, compressing your nerves. Excess weight can add pressure to nerves. Jobs or hobbies that require repetitive hand, wrist or shoulder movements increase the risk of a pinched nerve. People with diabetes are at higher risk of nerve compression. People with thyroid disease are at higher risk of carpal tunnel syndrome. Inflammation caused by rheumatoid arthritis can compress nerves, especially in your joints. Bone spurs can stiffen the spine as well as narrow the space where your nerves travel, pinching nerves. Trauma or a condition that causes bone thickening, such as osteoarthritis, can cause bone spurs. Women are more likely to develop carpal tunnel syndrome, possibly due to having smaller carpal tunnels. The following factors may increase your risk of experiencing a pinched nerve: However, if the pressure continues, chronic pain and permanent nerve damage can occur. Once the pressure is relieved, nerve function returns. If a nerve is pinched for only a short time, there's often no permanent damage. It can be caused by swollen tendon sheaths within the tunnel, enlarged bone that narrows the tunnel, or a thickened and degenerated ligament.Ī number of conditions may cause tissue to compress a nerve or nerves, including: In carpal tunnel syndrome, a variety of tissues may be responsible for compression of the carpal tunnel's median nerve in the wrist. Or muscle or tendons may compress a nerve. This tissue might be bone or cartilage, such as when a herniated spinal disk compresses a nerve root. A pinched median nerve in the wrist can lead to pain, numbness and weakness in the hand and fingers, known as carpal tunnel syndrome.Ī pinched nerve occurs when too much pressure, known as compression, is applied to a nerve by surrounding tissues.

Normal hip xray with pain and weakness