Ouch! Watch Out For Pinched Nerves
Your spinal column, or the vertebrae, consists of 24 separate bones along with the fused bones of the sacrum and coccyx
. The vertebral column is a strong, flexible rod that protects the spinal cord, supports the head, and provides attachment for the ribs. There are four major components of the spine: the vertebrae, joints, discs and nerves. So when you experience pain, or a pinched nerve, your whole body can be negatively affected. With rest and other conservative treatments, most people recover from a pinched nerve within a few days or even weeks. Sometimes, surgery may be necessary to relieve pain from a pinched nerve.
Understanding the Pinched Nerve
A pinched nerve is the term for pain or impaired function of a nerve that is under pressure. This happens to nerves that control muscle movements or relay sensations to the brain. The beginning signs of a pinched nerve may be tingling, numbness, burning sensation or shooting pains down the buttocks and legs or in the neck, shoulders, arms and fingers. Sometimes the pains and sensations that you feel can be distant from the point of pressure. For example, a pinched nerve in your lower back may cause pain in the calf as a primary symptom.
Some common signs and symptoms of a pinched nerve include:
*Numbness or decreased sensation in the area supplied by the nerve
*Sharp or burning pan, which may radiate outward
*Tingling, "pins and needles" sensations
*Muscle weakness or twitching in the affected area
*Frequent feeling that a foot or hand has "fallen asleep"
Signals Throughout the Body are Carried by Nerves
A peripheral nerve is like a fiber-optic cable, with many fibers encased in an outer sheath. When understanding nerves, you can think of each individual fiber as a microscopic garden hose. The green part of the hose is a fine membrane where a static electrical charge can travel to or from the brain. Inside the garden hose fluid is transported from the nerve cell body that helps nourish and replenish the ever-changing components of the membrane, or green part.
If the nerve is pinched, the flow up and down the inside of the hose is reduced or blocked, which means that nutrients stop flowing. Eventually, the membrane starts to lose its healthy ability to transmit tiny electrical charges and the nerve fiber may eventually die. When fibers stop working, a muscle may not contract and skin may feel numb.
A nerve can be pinched as it leaves the spine by a herniated disc or bone spurs that form from spinal arthritis. Another common place for a pinched nerve is the carpal tunnel. The carpal tunnel is a bottleneck area that all the finger flexor tendons and the median nerve must pass to the hand. Regardless of where the nerve is pinched, in the neck or carpal tunnel, you may often feel similar symptoms of numbness in the hand because your brain does not know how to tell the difference between the beginning, middle, or end of a nerve-it only knows that it is not receiving signals from the hand, and so numbness begins.
If you are experiencing pain, or think that your might have a pinched nerve, contact your chiropractor in Quincy, MA for further diagnosis and treatment. You shouldn't have to put up with any pain in your body.
by: Gen Wright
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