Pain that shoots from your neck all the way to your fingers.
A pinched nerve in the neck happens when a disc or bone spur presses on a nerve root in the cervical spine, sending pain, tingling, or weakness along the nerve's path into your shoulder, arm, or hand. It can be alarming — but for most people, the right treatment plan brings real relief without surgery.
Your doctor may call this cervical radiculopathy or a pinched cervical nerve root.
Often seen within a few days — sometimes as soon as tomorrowRequest your first visit
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What pinched nerve (cervical radiculopathy) really is.
The nerves that power sensation and movement in your arms and hands exit the spinal cord through openings between the vertebrae in your neck. When one of those openings narrows — because a disc has herniated, a bone spur has formed, or the disc has degenerated and lost height — the nerve root inside gets compressed or irritated. The pain, tingling, and weakness you feel in your arm are the nerve's way of signaling the problem.
The most common levels affected are C5–C6 and C6–C7, which is why symptoms often travel into the thumb, index finger, or middle finger. But the exact pattern depends on which nerve root is involved — a careful examination and MRI can usually pinpoint the level responsible, which is what guides treatment.
The good news
Cervical radiculopathy often resolves with nonsurgical care. A well-placed cervical epidural steroid injection, combined with targeted physical therapy to take pressure off the nerve, can produce dramatic relief. Surgery is reserved for a small minority who don't improve with conservative measures or who have progressive weakness.
Dermatomal patterns and clinical localization
We localize the affected nerve root using the dermatome map — C5 targets the lateral arm and shoulder, C6 the thumb and index finger, C7 the middle finger, C8 the ring and little fingers. Provocative tests like the Spurling maneuver and imaging confirm the level before any injection or procedural intervention is planned.
Common signs we treat.
Pain shooting into the arm
A sharp, electric, or burning pain that travels from the neck down through the shoulder and arm — sometimes all the way to the hand — following the path of the irritated nerve root.
Tingling in the hand or fingers
Pins and needles or a buzzing sensation in specific fingers that corresponds to which cervical nerve root is compressed — a reliable sign that the nerve itself is involved.
Arm or grip weakness
Difficulty gripping objects, lifting, or raising the arm overhead — a signal that the nerve compression is affecting motor as well as sensory fibers, which we take seriously and evaluate quickly.
From hurting to healed.
We work from the least-invasive options upward, escalating only if you need it. Most patients improve well before surgery is ever discussed.
Diagnose the cause
A physician examines you and, if needed, reviews imaging to pinpoint exactly what's driving the pain.
Calm it down
Targeted physical therapy, activity guidance, and medication to settle the irritation and reduce inflammation.
Image-guided injections
If pain persists, a precisely targeted injection delivered to the source under imaging.
Advanced options
For the few who need more, minimally invasive interventional procedures — with surgery as a last resort.
Treatment is matched to your specific diagnosis at your visit. The options shown reflect NASPAC's general approach and should be confirmed against the practice's verified procedure list.
Still have questions?
Most people describe a sharp, burning, or electric pain that starts in the neck or shoulder and shoots down the arm. It often comes with tingling or numbness in the fingers. Some people have little neck pain at all and feel the problem only in the arm — which can make the source easy to miss.
Many do, especially when the cause is a disc herniation that is in the process of shrinking. However, healing without treatment often takes months, and persistent nerve compression can cause lasting weakness or numbness. If symptoms are significant, getting evaluated sooner rather than later gives you more options and speeds recovery.
A cervical epidural steroid injection delivers anti-inflammatory medication precisely to the nerve root that's irritated — guided by live fluoroscopy (X-ray) so placement is exact. It reduces nerve swelling significantly enough to allow physical therapy to work and, for many patients, provides months of sustained relief.
Most people with cervical radiculopathy improve without surgery. Surgery — typically an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion or a foraminotomy — is considered when conservative treatment hasn't brought adequate relief after a reasonable trial, or when there is progressive motor weakness that needs to be addressed urgently.
Stop living with the arm pain.
Book with a board-certified pain physician near you — most patients are seen within days.
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