compression
Meaning of compression: Pressure exerted against a body structure, whether from an external wrap, an internal growth, or a deliberate diagnostic technique, is called compression.
Definition of compression
Compression refers to pressure applied to or exerted against a structure in the body, squeezing or flattening the tissue involved. The pressure can come from an external source, such as a wrap or device, or from an internal structure growing against another, such as a growth pressing on a nearby nerve or blood vessel.
Nerve compression, sometimes called a pinched nerve, can interfere with the signals a nerve carries, producing numbness, tingling, weakness, or pain in the area the nerve serves, depending on which nerve is affected and how severe the pressure is.
Compression is also used deliberately in medical care and imaging, such as applying a compression bandage to control swelling or bleeding, or briefly flattening breast tissue during a mammogram to obtain a clearer image with a lower radiation dose.
Used in a sentence
Imaging showed compression of the nerve root at the level of the affected vertebra.
Good to know
Compression affecting a nerve can produce symptoms at a distance from the actual site of pressure, since the nerve carries signals from that point onward to wherever it terminates.
Word origin
Where “compression” comes from
Formed from Latin com-, meaning together, and premere, meaning to press, the root of compressus, meaning pressed together.