nerve compression, a pathological event that causes harmful pressure on one or more nerves, resulting in nerve damage and muscle weakness, atrophy, or paresthesias over time. Any nerve that passes over a rigid prominence is vulnerable, and the degree of damage depends on the magnitude and duration of the compressive force. Various factors may contribute to susceptibility, such as inherited predisposition, malnutrition, trauma, and disease. Various activities associated with routine occupations may unduly compress especially vulnerable nerves, such as the median nerve, radial nerve, femoral nerve, and plantar nerves. Rest and the cessation or modification of causative activities often heal nerve damage caused by compression. Surgery may be required to correct more severe cases. Compare nerve entrapment.
