Understanding Scoliosis Pinched Nerve Symptoms

Scoliosis can cause symptoms that aren’t isolated to the spine. While not all cases of scoliosis are painful, when nerve compression is an issue, radiating pain is a common symptom. Scoliosis causes an unnatural sideways-bending spinal curve that rotates to develop, and this can introduce uneven pressure to a nerve(s) in the area.

The spine contains 31 pairs of spinal nerves, and if a nerve within, or where it exits the spine, is exposed to uneven pressure, it can become irritated, inflamed, and/or impinged (pinched). Understanding scoliosis involves symptom-awareness.

If the spine isn’t aligned and balanced and is left untreated, it can become increasingly unstable, and symptoms can become more severe, including nerve involvement.

What is Scoliosis?

The spine is naturally curved, and these curves, if maintained, work together to preserve the spine’s balance, stability, and function.

As one long structure, the health of each spinal section is affected by the other sections, so if a single unnatural spinal curve develops, it can disrupt the biomechanics of the entire spine.

Scoliosis is a spinal condition, but its effects can be widespread and are shaped by a number of factors including patient age, scoliosis type, severity, location, and the amount of rotation.

Scoliosis is also progressive, so without treatment, most cases will get worse over time, and even cases diagnosed as mild can progress quickly and become moderate and/or severe, so scoliosis symptoms can range from mild to severe.

The most common scoliosis symptoms include postural changes and pain (more common when adults develop scoliosis); uneven shoulders and hips are often the earliest signs in children.

Progression is triggered by growth, so childhood scoliosis, in particular, requires a proactive treatment approach that works towards counteracting the potential effects of rapid growth.

When it comes to patient age, this is important because of progression and pain. Growth triggers progression, so the more growth a patient has left prior to reaching skeletal maturity, the more potential progression a child can face, and during periods of rapid growth (puberty), rapid advancement is common.

Scoliosis isn’t always painful, and a key factor is patient age because scoliosis becomes compressive once skeletal maturity has been reached, and while compression isn’t the only cause of scoliosis pain, it is a main cause.

So the most likely patients to experience nerve pain are adults for whom scoliosis is compressive.

Compression and Pinched Nerves

Compression is uneven pressure, and when an area of the body is experiencing uneven forces, there can be a number of effects.

The spine plays a number of key roles in overall health, one of which is protecting the spinal cord (31 pairs of spinal nerves).

As the brain and spine work together to form the central nervous system that facilitates brain-body communication, a disruption in the system can have a number of effects.

If the spine curves unnaturally and twists, compressing a spinal nerve within, or where it exits the spine and branches off to different areas of the body, it can become irritated, inflamed, compressed, and impinged.

Commonly referred to as a pinched nerve, impingement means a nerve is experiencing excessive pressure that’s affecting its ability to function optimally.

Nerve compression can cause pain, tingling sensations, numbness, and/or weakness in the surrounding area.

Pinched Nerve Location and Symptoms

Depending on the location of the nerve compression and the degree of nerve involvement, symptoms can be widespread.

For example, a common complication of lumbar scoliosis is sciatic nerve pain; this is because the sciatic nerve starts in the lower spine and extends throughout the lower body.

So if the lumbar spine is compressing the sciatic nerve, it can cause pain and related symptoms felt anywhere along the nerve’s extensive pathway: from the lumbar spine, down the back of the buttock, leg, and into the foot (most often involving the left side).

If a nerve is pinched in the cervical spine, the primary effects will be felt in the upper body: neck, shoulders, arms, and hands.

Pinched Nerve Treatment

If a pinched nerve is left untreated and is caused by a progressive condition like scoliosis that is likely to get worse over time, the compression will also increase, and the pinched nerve can become damaged.

Nerve damage isn’t always easy to reverse and can cause chronic pain and dysfunction, but when nerve compression is addressed proactively and pressure on an impinged nerve is relieved, symptom relief and healing is more likely.

For patients experiencing scoliosis symptoms that include a pinched nerve, the underlying cause of the nerve compression has to be addressed: the scoliosis itself.

Most adults develop scoliosis symptoms that include compressed nerves and nerve pain; in fact, nerve pain is the main symptom that leads to a scoliosis diagnosis in adults.

Most older adults generally develop degenerative scoliosis, and these cases are almost always progressive and painful due to patient age and increasingly spinal instability.

A pinched nerve needs pressure-relief, so a goal of nonsurgical scoliosis treatment is to improve the spine’s alignment, the body’s 3D posture, and to restore strength and balance to the spine’s surrounding muscles.

A spine that’s surrounded by strong and balanced muscles has more support, stability, and less pressure on its individual structures and nerves, so specific strengthening exercises can help.

A scoliosis-specific exercise program like ScoliBalance® involves comprehensive assessment for the complete customization of scoliosis-specific rehabilitation exercises with corrective potential, and when combined with the power of scoliosis-specific Chiropractic BioPhysics® and corrective bracing, the potential scope of nonsurgical treatment options widen.

As posture is key to spinal health, and vice versa, the degree of postural imbalance caused by scoliosis also plays a role in the degree of nerve involvement, so postural restoration is always a focus of nonsurgical scoliosis treatment.

Conclusion

Pinching of spinal nerves can cause a number of symptoms from pain to mobility issues

While anti-inflammatory medications may help relieve some pinched nerve pain symptoms caused by scoliosis, the results are short-term, and medication alone doesn’t address the underlying cause of the nerve compression.

For long-term sustainable pinched nerve treatment results, the scoliosis itself needs to be proactively addressed so further progression and increasing compressive forces can be reduced.

In addition, the longer scoliosis is left untreated and the more it progresses, the more likely it is to impact other areas of spinal health, including increasing degenerative joints and discs (bulging discs and/or herniated discs), bone spurs, disc disease or arthritis.

When it comes to scoliosis pinched nerve symptoms, the best way to minimize the effects is to treat the scoliosis proactively with a customized treatment plan integrating scoliosis-specific chiropractic care, exercise-rehabilitation programs, and corrective bracing.

Here at the Scoliosis Center of Utah, the treatment approach is nonsurgical and individualized, and any scoliosis symptom, including nerve pain, is taken seriously by addressing its underlying cause: the misaligned and unbalanced spine and body.