Nerve Mobility

Have you ever experienced the sensation of your arms or feet falling asleep after being in a certain position for a long time? Your nerves are responsible for the sensations you feel and the muscle function in your upper and lower extremities. Maintaining certain positions may temporarily place compression on the nerves that travel to your arms/legs, interrupting the signals carried within the nerves and giving you the sensation of “sleepiness” in your limbs. It’s similar to kinking a water hose and stopping the flow of water. Positions that commonly lead to this are laying with your arms crossed over your chest or above your head and sitting on your foot or with your legs crossed. In these cases, the sensation is only temporary and can easily be improved with simple movements that “wake up” the nerves. 

Longer term compression on nerves can be more stubborn and take a bit more work to resolve. Part of the process of treating long term numbness, tingling, or burning in the arms/legs is pinpointing where along the nerve’s pathway it’s getting compressed or irritated. Our physical therapists can help you identify this and provide an individualized treatment plan. Along with treating the source of the compression, we likely will also give you exercises to improve the mobility of your nerves. Nerves like blood flow and the ability to glide and slide throughout the tissues they cross, which neural mobility exercises promote. This can relieve symptoms, enhance the mind/muscle connection, and aid in flexibility. 

It’s important to recognize that it is possible to overdo it with neurodynamic exercises. If the exercise intensity is too high, you may cause tugging on the nerve instead of encouraging it to glide, which can further aggravate your symptoms. The exercises below are lower intensity versions, and if you are still experiencing your symptoms after trying them, then you should consider scheduling an evaluation with one of our physical therapists for a well-rounded program to manage your symptoms. 

Upper Extremity

Lower Extremity

Contact Us: Please contact the experienced physical therapists at Dynamic Physical Therapy – Chicago and Follow and Like us on Instagram and Facebook.  Also, subscribe to our You Tube Channel for the above exercises and many more! Please call (312) 643-1555 or email [email protected] with any questions or to schedule your consultation today.