Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Pinched Nerve

A pinched nerve can be very discomfort for anyone who has one.  So what is a pinched nerve anyway?  When a person feels pain of any sort, it is usually caused by some sort of pressure on a nerve.  Now most people think, when they feel pain that the area of pain sensation must be where the area of the nerve is being pinched.  This is a common fault, a nerve can be pinched anywhere from the place it leaves the spinal cord and all the way through its path of innervation, the pain felt can radiate anywhere below the pinched area making the symptoms appear in areas that it isn't being directly pinched.  A nerve can be pinched by a lot of different elements but the most common way a nerve can be pinched is either by a vertebra, bone or disc out of place or alignment, tight muscles around the nerve, or it could be simply swelling producing pressure on the nerve. 
When people feel a pinch nerve in their back, a lot of times it can be the disc between the vertebra putting pressure on the nerve.  Anytime a disc puts pressure on the nerve symptoms can be felt as far down as the hands and feet.  When a nerve gets pinched there is a chain reaction that happens.  If there is pressure on some part of the nerve it may cause a muscle spasm which then tightens the muscle up causing more pressure on the nerve which in turns causes more of a muscle spasm.  If this is the case the only way to fix this is to relieve the pressure off the nerve.  Chiropractic care is the best treatment for helping a pinched nerve.
Chiropractic care helps relieve the tension off the nerve by helping to align the spine and taking the pressure of the hard bone off the soft nerve.  It also relaxes the muscle tension and helps drain the swelling and inflammation in the area so that there is no pressure on the nerve.  Chiropractors should be the first doctors you think of when you feel that you have a pinched nerve.  If a pinched nerve is left on treated the influence that it has on the body can be very devastating.  For instance, if the disc is putting pressure on the nerve then that would mean that the disc as lost some height which puts the disc in a vulnerable state of possible degeneration because of loss of nutrient intake.  When this is the case the disc may decay and loose all its function of separating the vertebra causing the two bones to touch increasing pain and furthering the process of degeneration and bone deformity.  This in turn will decrease ones range of motion, joint functionality, and cause permanent nerve damage.  
At Twins Chiropractic my brother and I see this case on a daily basis.  It is relatively easy for us to diagnose any pressure on your nervous system and put you on systematic treatment plan.  We have scientific specific technology that is created by NASA to help us identify the nerves that are being impinged.  This nerve scan is used to monitor the patients progress throughout their treatment plan.  This allows the patient to see as well as the doctor, how the treatment is influencing the nerve being treated.  Not only do we help get the patient better in our office, we also help educate the patient on how to prevent this from ever occurring in the future.  
The definition of doctor is teacher and we take that very serious at our clinic.  No patient finishes their treatment without knowing the steps of prevention and leading a wellness based lifestyle.  Our job is to have affiliation with patients who come in for wellness check ups only, rather then constantly having to come in because their back flares up or goes out every other month.  These wellness check ups help identify any possible pinched nerves that may be developing but the patient has not yet felt any symptoms.  This is the most cost efficient health care, and allows all of us to stay healthy.
 
Dr. Daniel Clements D.C.