Solution:
tight nerves and tingling feet

Picture:. piriformis syndrome is a common cause of tight nerves and tingly feet. The stretches in this picture are surprisingly correct!

Video: Pinched nerves and tingling feet: massage, floss and squat!

Introduction

Nerves are slippery and stretchy – they glide through tissues and slide out of the way if they can.  And they are encased in a tough rubbery sheath.  It’s hard – but not impossible - to damage a nerve.  We are going to examine two locations of nerve pinch in the leg.  They are common, often in mild doses that we learn to live with them.   Occasionally they are severe enough to warrant a surgeon’s attention, but this is fortunately rare.

Causes types and symptoms of nerve pinch pain

In some parts of the body nerves must travel through narrowed locations (often called tunnels), sometimes through muscle bellies. In these narrowed locations there is little scope for a nerve to slide out of harm’s way. So the nerve gets pinched or squeezed.  If the pinch or squeeze is severe enough, or long or often enough, the nerve becomes glued to the tissue around it and unable to glide.  At this stage a nerve may cause a body part to feel numb or tingly, and muscles either find it hard to relax (they tighten up at rest), or weak when you want to use them. 

Two locations of nerve compression in the leg:

• Nerve roots at the level of the lower spine
• Sciatic nerve in or under the Piriformis (a buttock muscle)

Picture: three common locations of nerve pinch in the leg:-

Four ways to care for nerve pinch zones

Two ways that are close to the nerve:-

• Relax stretch massage and open the tunnel or muscle through which the nerve travels.
• Unglue the nerve sheath from the surrounding tissues by “flossing the nerve”.

Two ways that are not close to the nerve:-

• Strengthen stretch and maintain the body to make sure that the movement patterns that cause the problem do not repeat themselves
• Improve awareness of the movement patterns that need to be improved if you are going to stop pinching your sore nerve

1. Nerve roots in the lower back compression (disc prolapse and or spinal stenosis)
2. Buttock nerve compression (Piriformis syndrome)

(We'll discuss the first two, we'll save the last one for another lesson)

(1) Nerve root pinch in the lower back

This is caused by prolapsed discs and/or spinal stenosis in the lower back.  There are certain patterns of movement that cause damage in the lower back that lead to nerve root compression.  The symptoms are back pain (often severe), with pain down one or both buttocks and thighs. 

(2) Piriformis syndrome nerve pinch

Piriformis syndrome is when the piriformis muscle goes into a spasm and puts a squeeze on the sciatic nerve at the level of the center of the buttock.  It goes into spasm because it's attempting to stabilize the sacroiliac joint after it has been sprained (jammed up against the end of it's range of movement).  Unfortunately, the piriformis is not the muscle to do the job of bringing the S-I joint back to the center of its range of motion.  On the contrary, the piriformis muscle locks the joint into its painful sprained position, which in turn makes the piriformis go into a worse spasm, which compresses the sciatic nerve even more. 

The Gluteus maximus and the pelvic floor are however very good at bringing the S-I joint back to where it is safe.  You can get these muscles working again if you regularly squat and as you push upward out of the squat, “squeeze your glutes together”.

Conclusion

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