Nerves are an important part of our bodies and they need to be able to move without restriction. They are also the reason we move our muscles and breathe.
Unlike our muscles that are very elastic, nerves are not, but they do need to stretch slightly as to not become torn with movement.
Nerve Damage and Sensations
Nerves can be damaged in several ways: trauma, pinching at joints, compressed at certain sites, or compressed by muscles.
The most common type I see in the clinic is pinching or compression.
The pain associated with nerve damage is burning or lightning bolt sensations and numbness or tingling. These pains or sensations are not always felt at the site of the injury but also along the nerve distribution. Meaning along the area the nerve functions.
You can see from this picture where the individual nerves go through out the body.
Nerves to Stretch
There are several ways of performing the stretches and every PT has their favorite. These listed below are my favorites. I will also change the way of performing the stretch if a patient cannot get in a certain position or if they need to make it harder.
The most common nerves to stretch are Ulnar, Median, Radial, and Sciatic.
The Ulnar, Radial, and Median nerves are in the arm and the Sciatic is in the leg.
Ulnar Nerve
The ulnar nerve runs behind the elbow on the inside and innervates the pinky and ring finger of the hands.
Median Nerve
The Median nerve goes down the middle of the elbow and supplies the thumb, index, and middle fingers of the hand.
Radial Nerve
The Radial nerve runs down the outside of the elbow and goes to the back of the hand around the thumb.
Sciatic Nerve
The Sciatic nerve is a very large nerve that comes from the low back and supplies the entire lower leg (it breaks off into smaller nerves down the leg). Low back pain can lead to sciatic nerve problems (check out the low back pain post here)
For each of these exercises move back and forth from the positions. Perform 10 repetitions and if you do not have too much pain, repeat for 2-3 sets. If pain occurs, only complete 1 set.
Nerves are an important part of our bodies and they need to be able to move without restriction. Performing these stretches will help reduce injury to the nerves.