Is a “pinched” nerve making your life miserable?
Being pinched hurts, but to pinch a nerve? Ugh! That must feel like severe, intense pain – and it often does. “Pinched” nerves could happen anywhere in your spine; they can affect nerves that go to your arms, fingers, wrist, neck, back, shoulder, head, legs, muscles and internal organs, and can affect your general health, posture, energy level, resistance to disease – even your emotional health. “Pinched” nerves can make your life miserable.
But, are the nerves really pinched? “Pinched” is an inaccurate term. Many chiropractors feel that vertebral subluxation complex, nerve impingement, nerve irritation and spinal stress are more accurate and should be used instead. But, people like the word pinched because it’s so descriptive. It can really feel like something is being pinched inside you.
Nerves: Where do they go?
There are billions of nerve fibers in your body, often arranged in bundles called nerves. Many billions of them travel inside the spinal column as part of the spinal cord and exit through openings between the vertebrae. After leaving the spinal column, the nerves separate into smaller and smaller bundles and travel to every nook and cranny in your body.
Life without nerves
Without nerves, you couldn’t see, hear, touch, taste or smell. You also wouldn’t be able to feel hot, cold, pain or pleasure. Your body would be the ultimate sensory deprivation tank; you’d be completely cut off from existence. Without nerves, you would be completely paralyzed – no muscles could move. Your body wouldn’t be able to respond to any of your commands, and you’d be a prisoner within yourself.
Nerve regulation
Nerves regulate your breathing, sweating, shivering, internal organ function, heartbeat, digestion, excretion, blood supply to different organs and blood pressure. Without healthy nerves, your body would be quite useless.
How do nerves get impinged or pinched?
When the nerves come down from the brain, they travel through a bony canal formed by vertebrae. If the vertebrae are misaligned slightly, they may cause the nerves to be irritated, compressed or stretched. Nerves also send more than electrical impulses; it is now known that chemical nutrients, which are necessary for muscle health, travel over the nerves. What can cause nerve pinching or impingement? A fall or an accident, even a very mild one that happened years ago, may be enough to misalign your spine. Some common causes are unnatural sleeping positions, bad posture, fatigue, dental work, a difficult birth, emotional stress, poor nutrition or a combination of stresses.
Pinched nerves cause dis-ease
When the nerves are compressed, their impulses may be altered and this affects the entire body. Dis-ease, a general weakening of your body, may result. Dis-ease sets the stage for diseases of all kinds. Chiropractors have observed that physical and emotional conditions of many kinds have been related to improper functioning of the nervous system. Some of these include ulcers, constipation, diarrhea, lung conditions such as asthma, fevers, headaches, seizures, allergies, bed-wetting, colds, hearing, vision and a host of other problems. When the spinal column is misaligned, the entire skeletal system is thrown off balance, which can cause fatigue and exhaustion (common early signs of spinal problems).
Most pinched nerves don’t hurt
Most people with pinched nerves are not in pain. People with painful pinched nerves might be considered the lucky ones – they know they have a problem in their spine and they (hopefully) will get themselves checked by a chiropractor. But what about the ones without pain? Less than 10% of the nerve system can feel pain, so you don’t always know if there’s a problem.
Correct your pinched nerves
Only doctors of chiropractic, such as Dr. Mark Hardwick and Dr. Mitchell Jacobs, are able to analyze the spine for pinched nerves or vertebral subluxations. No painkillers, muscle relaxants, other drugs or medical procedures can do it. No surgery can do it. Pinched nerves will not go away by themselves. Anyone suffering from pinched nerves needs a proper chiropractic spinal analysis and spinal adjustments to relieve their body of vertebral subluxations – nothing else will do.
Remember, this month’s Theme of the Month at Great Plains Chiropractic and Wellness is Pins & Needles. This month, all of your friends, co-workers and family members who are battling with Pins & Needles are entitled to an initial subluxation check-up. Be sure to speak to a member of our team to get your “New Patient Welcome Packet” that you can give to the friend, co-worker or family member that you have in mind.
For Your Health,
Dr. Mark Hardwick and Dr. Mitchell Jacobs