http://www.dellon.com/ps/ch1.lr.pdf
The research models I helped to develop in the early 1980’s demonstrated that within 2 months of nerve compression, fluid begins to leak from blood vessels into the nerve, that by 6 months of compression, the myelin protein covering the nerve fibers begins to get damaged, and that by one year, nerve fibers have begun to die. Scar tissue forms between the bundles within the large nerve.* The nerve itself,may become stuck to the surrounding ligaments. Once this degree of scar tissue forms, only surgery can relieve pressure on the nerve sufficiently to relieve symptoms.
Surgery must relieve pressure on the compressed nerve. Either the rock or the hard place must be removed, or the nerve itself must be moved to place without a rock or a hard place to compress it.