--to have nerve compression caused by a shifting in other bodily tissues or by swelling, and yes, nerves can be overstretched by severe mechanical forces leading to myelin sheath and even axonal damage.

Usually for the latter, though, it takes major torsional forces on the body part involved--it's not likely something one could do to oneself easily, unless one was lifting heavy weights or doing major gymnastics, for example. It would be much more likely to happen after a bad fall, a motor vehicle accident, or an assault, or some such injury.