Is it possible to have a nerve pinched with neck acupressure?

Question

I asked a physiotherapist to relieve some mild tension in my neck when lying down on my stomach. I thought he was going to give me a massage, but he told me I needed to turn around on my back and he went up behind my head he greased up his fingers and began digging them into the holes to the sides of my neck, flicking around ligaments, as if he was searching for something, then I felt him squeezing something for a couple of seconds on my left side, it really hurt, he said he’ll just apply pressure here until the tension goes away, he said my right side didn’t have much tension. I asked him what he did and he said it’s “acupressure”. I felt pain in that area that day when I brought my head to the left and brought my shoulder up and shortened the muscle, which I thought was normal and it was gone the next day.

Answer 1

Hi Dean.  You are describing symptoms of a classic Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS).  Have you ever had a whiplash injury? - sports injury?, car accident?, falls?, horse play?  TOS is a chronic condition that develops in the neck after any type of whiplash injury.

The TOS would not have been caused by the therapist's treatment, but he may have released one muscle group without adequately balancing others, thus revealing the underlying problem.  This existing problem could have been the reason you were having "tension in the neck".

You may want to consult with your family Chiropractor.  They are specialists in treating this type of problem.

Best wishes and good luck.