• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Natural Treatments
  • Natural Products
  • The Definitive Guide to Low Back Pain Relief

Low Back Pain Relief

Natural & Alternative Solutions for Lower Back Pain

Pinched Nerve or Pulled Muscle: 2 Easy Ways to Find Out

2019/09/02 by Meital James 19 Comments

How do you know if you have a pinched nerve or a pulled muscle?

Can a muscle strain cause nerve damage?

And how to treat both of these conditions – at home?

pinched or pulled muscle in lower back

This post may contain affiliate links. We receive a small commission at no extra cost to you when you make a purchase using some of our links.

Finding the cause of your back pain without a physician’s examination is difficult.

 However, this guide will reveal 2 simple ways to determine if your back pain is caused by a pinched nerve or a pulled muscle. And how to heal both – naturally and quickly.

Page Contents

  • 1 Pinched Nerve or Pulled Muscle?
    • 1.1 Clue #1
    • 1.2  Clue #2 
  • 2 Can A Strained Muscle Cause Nerve Damage?
  • 3  How to Heal a Pulled Muscle in Your Back
  • 4  How to Heal a Lumbar Pinched Nerve 

Pinched Nerve or Pulled Muscle?

Clue #1

A pulled muscle occurs when you tear or overstretch some of your muscle fibers.

A pulled muscle is usually described as a dull aching pain. Injured muscles can cause a surprising amount of pain and can become inflamed and spasmed, causing back pain and significant stiffness.

Muscle strain can also feel like throbbing, tenderness, cramping, stiffness, aching and accompanied by swelling.

A compressed (pinched) nerve happens when the pressure in an area causes the nerve impulses to become partially blocked. You may experience radiating, burning pain in the affected area.

Pinched nerve feels more like sharp-shooting pain and may be accompanied by numbness and tingling.

👉 See the best low back pinched nerve home treatment you can do, including the best stretches!

 Clue #2 

A pulled muscle is usually localized in one area. The area should feel tender when touched and when you try to use the muscle, you feel immediate pain.

Pinched nerve pain can be felt all along the course of the nerve, and usually radiates down the length of the leg, so you feel back pain along with pain in one or both your legs.

There are many other signs of nerve injury: muscles that get smaller, color change in the skin, and changes to the amount of sweat in certain areas.

Can A Strained Muscle Cause Nerve Damage?

According to the Mayo Clinic, nerve injury can happen due to stretching or pressing on the nerve, and also as a result of conditions that affect the nerves, such as diabetes.

A muscle strain can irritate the local nerves, but it most likely won’t cause severe nerve damage, such as a complete cut of the nerve.

Nerve damage from a pulled muscle will heal on its own.

 How to Heal a Pulled Muscle in Your Back

A muscle strain, also called a pulled muscle, occurs when a muscle is overstretched or overworked, and small tears occur within the muscle.

A pulled muscle can take up to 6 weeks to heal completely.

However:

You can speed your recovery in many ways:

Self Massage – using a simple self-massage tool can promote blood circulation to the injury area in your back and speed up healing significantly.

Theracane self massage tool

Infrared Heat Therapy – using an infrared heating pad, which emits deep-penetrating IR rays up to 3 cm inside your tissues, can relieve your pain without pills – for more than 6 hours post-treatment.

I have the BioMat at home, which is my own personal in-house doctor, and I use it all the time:

infrared light therapy for muscle pain

👉 See the 4 BEST infrared heating pads for back pain.

 How to Heal a Lumbar Pinched Nerve 

There are a few possible causes for a pinched nerve (slipped disc, herniated disc, ruptured disc, degenerative disc disease, and piriformis syndrome).

But no matter the cause, there are 2 simple steps you have to take to NATURALLY cure your pinched nerve.

Do not fool yourself to think that it will go away or heal on its own and please do not start relying on dangerous pain medication to keep your sanity.

So, what did you find? A pinched nerve or a pulled muscle?

 To your health and happiness,

Meital

Related Posts

  • How to Reverse a Pinched (Compressed) Nerve in Lower Back

    When it comes to healing from a pinched nerve in the lower back, early diagnosis…

  • back muscle knots home treatments
    3 Ways to Get Rid of Back Muscle Knots (Quickly & Naturally)

    Back muscle knots, also known as myofascial trigger points, are small, "bumpy" muscle areas that…

Filed Under: Low Back Pain Causes Tagged With: pinched nerve

About Meital James

Meital James, Founder and CEO of 4 healthy living blogs, has a background in Naturopathic medicine, research, journalism, and nutrition.
Her blogs are the culmination of her thousands of hours of research and experience and all the posts are verified by scientific findings.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Taylor Rhein says

    2020/04/27 at 7:26 pm

    Pain in lower back. Been going on for months. Just as one side was getting better, I started lifting weights. Then the other side started to hurt… I’m pretty sure that is from either poor form, or overworking a lower back mucles, but the problem is that it’s only on one side. When I do activities that involve leg/back movement, it hurts after. Then when I rest, it begins to feel better. However when I bend down I feel the pain radiate through the back of my leg, about to the end of my hamstrings. It feels like it’s being ripped or torn. The pain is hard to identify. It doesn’t feel like a shock, and my leg doesn’t go numb. But when I try to rub the spot on my back, I can’t find it. Any ideas?

    Reply
    • Meital James says

      2020/04/28 at 3:40 am

      It sounds like a pinched nerve from Sciatica. Most of the time this heals on its own or with the help of some good stretches, massage, and heat. But I can’t tell for sure of course… I would be encouraged by the fact that it only hurts on one side now instead of on both sides. Try to focus on that. 🙂

      Reply
  2. Mari says

    2019/12/10 at 5:57 pm

    Problems with my back. Right side, lower part of muscle . It looks 2x thicker than a muscle in left side, not in all length but part of it. Bottom part of muscle is ok, little bit upper is the thick balloon, then normal again. Hurts when I bend, move or switch positions in bed, sometimes hard to dress on, sit in car, run, impossible to jump. Pain almost 3 years, the muscle looks so terrible almost 4 years. Still can lift weights in right angle without pain. No pain by touching muscle, only on movement. Tried pills, massage, physiotherapy – no results.

    Reply
    • Meital James says

      2019/12/11 at 6:25 am

      Mary, were you ever diagnosed in these 3 years?

      Reply
  3. Rudy says

    2019/06/15 at 4:01 pm

    I have a lower back pain just slightly to the right of my back. It happened as I was bending and twisting. I put a heating pad on a couple of times. Used cold hot patches. Hurts when I stand or walk. Its been 3 days. Any diagnosis?

    Reply
    • Meital James says

      2019/06/16 at 5:30 am

      Can’t really diagnose it since I’m not a doctor, but it sounds like a muscle strain. I would keep using an infrared heating pad and try to do some gentle stretches as well. It will go away on its own soon.

      Reply
  4. Chris says

    2019/02/03 at 9:06 am

    Hi lifting my arm above my head creates intense pain my back between my shoulder blade and spine, and my hand gets tingles like it’s waking up, and it tingles all the way from fingers to spot in back. Can you help? Do I need a doc?

    Reply
    • Meital James says

      2019/02/04 at 6:25 am

      It sounds like a pinched nerve, but of course, I can’t say for sure. It wouldn’t hurt to see a doctor, or you can wait a few more days to see if it’s improving first. But there is no reason to be stressed about it.

      Reply
      • Chris says

        2019/02/04 at 7:13 pm

        Thanks for your help with this. I’ll try not to stress

        Reply
  5. Marjorie says

    2018/10/24 at 12:13 am

    I’ve recently started weightlifting and may have pinched a nerve but I’m only numb in my outer thigh and I don’t have any back pain. I do have some tingling when I walk a lot but It’s been numb for a week already; is this actually a pinched nerve?

    Reply
    • Meital James says

      2018/10/24 at 5:17 am

      There’s no way to know for sure, but it can be. Give it a few more days, I’m sure it will go away on its own.

      Reply
  6. Barbara says

    2018/09/06 at 2:25 pm

    Sitting, standing, laying down, 24/7 I have a burning, very sharp pain that is constant and intensifies every minute or so. It’s located on my left upper back. It is debilitating. I’ve had muscle spasms and this is nothing like it. I’ve taken everything to no avail. My pcp said to see a physical therapist. Not sure about that. Any input?

    Reply
    • Meital James says

      2018/09/07 at 5:44 am

      It could be any number of things.. it definitely could be a pinched nerve as well. I would start with a heating pad and see if it helps.

      Reply
  7. Susan George says

    2017/05/06 at 8:07 am

    If a person is often getting a muscle pull is there a major health problem ?

    Reply
    • Meital James says

      2017/05/06 at 9:34 am

      I would think that you may have some Magnesium deficiency. Check it out and try Magnesium oil daily.

      Reply
  8. jessie says

    2015/06/27 at 3:08 pm

    pain from center of spine forward tward frount along rib cage from breast line to hip contant with sharp pain when moving woke up with this over a week ago any sugestions

    Reply
    • Meital James says

      2015/06/28 at 5:19 am

      Jessie,

      It could be anything really…even a heniated disc, but I’m not a doctor and you should go see one to get diagnosed.

      Reply
  9. I have had recurring pain in my lower back and down the front of of my leg for 2 week's straight. ice then heat and major pain pills. nothing working but staying off of it.any ideas for relief? Mri shows nothing says

    2014/06/03 at 3:58 pm

    Mri shows nothing. Can’t put weight on leg.taking pain pills. Don’t help much.

    Reply
    • Meital James says

      2014/06/03 at 6:45 pm

      It sounds like Sciatica. Here’s what to do:

      https://pain-in-lower-back.com/low-back-sciatica-home-treatment/

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

body pillow for back pain

Popular Posts

  • How to Treat Lower Back Stiffness Naturally
  • The 5 Most Dangerous Low Back Pain Treatments (And Their SAFE Alternatives)
  • Back Muscle Spasms: Causes and Top Natural Treatments
  • How to Naturally Reverse a Pinched Nerve in Lower Back
  • How to Fall Asleep When Your Back Hurts
  • 2 Powerful Ways to Reverse a Bulging Disc in Lower Back

Search

pain-in-lower-back.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, endless.com, smallparts.com, myhabit.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program.

Copyright © 2022 · Lifestyle Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in