Have you wondered what is happening to your nerves when you experience numbness, tingling, or burning nerve pain? To understand what’s happening, you need to know the difference between a pinched nerve (called radiculopathy) and peripheral neuropathy. In a prior article I’ve outlined what’s occurring with peripheral neuropathy, so in this article, I will concentrate, for the most part, on pinched nerves.
In the case of a pinched or compressed nerve, the surrounding bones, tendons, cartilage and/or disc can press upon the nerve as it leaves your spine and impede its functions. The cause of this pressure can be a result of an old injury, arthritis, new trauma, or chronic repetitive stress like poor posture or poor work conditions. This impingement causes tingling, numbness, and weakness and eventually damages the nerves. Each nerve and each individual person has differing pain thresholds and much of this initial damage can be silent with no pain. Over time, however, the pressure builds and eventually pushes your nerve over its threshold and, once crossed, only then do you feel pain.
Stenosis and Other Causes of Pinched Nerves
Stenosis often accompanies pinched nerves or causes pain and numbness on its own. Stenosis means the nerve hole is too small. Stenosis can be congenital (meaning you’re born with it) or it can be acquired in the same way pinched nerves are acquired (biomechanical malfunction). When these areas degenerate the nerve holes begin to close up and, exactly as in pinched nerves, in early phases a patient is left unaware of the damage being caused as the symptoms are mostly occasional and not too debilitating. If left uncorrected the structural imbalance will continue causing premature and uneven wear and tear which further closes down the nerve holes leading one down the road to crisis. ‘An ounce of prevention’ comes to mind here.
“As the twig is bent, so grows the tree” (Alexander Pope). Pinched nerves from stenosis, soft tissue encroachment like slipped discs, external stressors, all usually occur over time from biomechanical reasons. The spine is like a kinetic chain of moving parts or links and it is only as strong as its weakest link. The most common weak links exist in two primary areas: first is the lower back (L4, L5 & sacrum – the sciatic nerve roots); second is the base of the neck/shoulders (C5, C6 & C7 — the shoulder, arm, and hand nerves). Spinal hygiene is so frequently overlooked that most people wind up in really bad shape before they come for help. As Joseph Pilates so elegantly stated “you are only as young as your spine is flexible” A flexible and balanced spine is paramount to a stress-free nerve system.
The most common reasons for pinched nerves are premature and abnormal wear and tear on spinal structures; herniated or bulging discs from poor posture or old injuries that didn’t heal right; or an accumulation of undissipated stress. The most common reasons for neuropathy are chronic illnesses, pre-diabetes, diabetes, and chemotherapy. In the case of peripheral neuropathy, your nerves are being damaged and destroyed, mostly from poor circulation.
If the pinched nerve or neuropathy condition continues to worsen, your nerves will eventually atrophy or die leaving you unable to walk, balance, drive, or even care for yourself. Diagnostic testing allows us to identify & diagnose conditions accurately – MRIs, Cat Scans, EMGs (nerve conduction testing) can all help us to make the correct diagnosis – and knowing what’s causing the numbness, pain, tingling or imbalance leads us to the appropriate treatment. But making the correct diagnosis is just the beginning. The big unanswered question is WHY? Why is this happening? That ‘why’ is, in my opinion, the most important, and often most overlooked, aspect of complete recovery. Knowing where the dysfunction comes from is important but why it is there in the first place may be more important. It is paramount for a practitioner to get to the root cause of a problem for full patient recovery.
Chiropractic Care and Pinched Nerves
As a chiropractor the goal is to dive deep and discover why the body has failed, and correct it. It’s usually not bad luck or bad genes as others may have you believe. Many patients exhibit both nerve compression (pinched nerves) and neuropathy simultaneously. Finding the % is the key to effective, natural treatment and recovery. Making lifestyle choices, too, plays an integral part to the healing and recovery process — losing weight through proper diet and careful exercise; quitting smoking; laying the groundwork for proper sleep habits; they all work synergistically along with more external protocols to boost the body’s innate healing potential. Many types of nerve damage are reparable if given the time and the right care.
So where does this lead us? If there is one thing I can get you to do from reading this is to please, be proactive with your health and not reactive. As an old MD friend would always tell his patients “if you wait until your blood tests are abnormal, you already have the disease”. So please, do what you need to stay ahead with your health. Next, make sure you have a great healthcare team that really cares for you. Last but not least, be your own health care advocate by educating yourself and making the best decisions. Somethings are truly out of our control but many of our decisions about our health care are not. Choose wisely!