Pins and Needles or Numbness People frequently talk about pins and needles and numbness and they are synonyms meaning compression on a nerve. A nerve that leaves the spine and goes into the leg or arms is called a peripheral nerve. These nerves are responsible to making muscles move and to enable skin sensation. If a nerve is pinched, the flow up and down the inside of the spinal cord is reduced or blocked, meaning the signals are blocked. The external membrane of the nerve starts to lose its healthy ability to transmit electrical signals and the muscle may not contract or patially and the skin may feel numb. A pinched nerve is the lower back is pain down the leg and from the neck down to the arm. This is the basis of referred pain, muscle spasm in the back accompanies pinched nerves and can be quite painful. Nerves that are pinched may give symptoms of weakness or numbness in the arm or leg without pain. Other symptoms include tingling, burning, electric and a hot/cold sensation. Our job is to finding where the compression is be it the spine or if in a peripheral joint and decompress it using means just as manipulation therapy, traction, dry needling, cupping and stretching.