Pinched nerves are never far from an unpleasant and painful experience.

In fact Neck pain in total accounts for the 6th largest cause of Disability in the world. ? Let that sink in.

Chiropractors have the skills to identify the underlying causes as best they can, and frequently able to help resolve it.

So what goes on when a nerve is pinched?

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The condition of nerves being pinched are similar to how true sciatica occurs.

You have many nerves that come out of the neck. However It is the lower nerves of the neck that are MOST COMMONLY pinched.

When these are pinched in any way they commonly send pain down one side of the neck, down the inside of the shoulder blade, down the arm (felt in the biceps/triceps), and even can cause numbness, tingling, pins/needles, in the forearm and hand/fingers.

For every 1 inch the head carries forward (in bad posture) — the compressive force pushing down on the bones and joints of your neck DOUBLES

Pain is often intense and unrelenting, with a deep ache and burning neck pain. Then comes the widely known radiating arm pain and numbness tingling, pins/needles

If the nerve is severely pinched – you may experience WEAKNESS, in your grip and strength if this is the case go to a chiropractor more urgently or to your GP doctors office.

A lot of people may describe their pain easing when they hold their arm out and even behind their head.

Causes include :

-Disc tearing and fluid pressure onto nerve

-Osteophytes – these are extra bone growth commonly occurring in those over 50 – which then leads to pinching on the nerve

-Thoracic outlet syndrome – where a muscle in the neck pinches the nerve as shown below.

Usually occurs in those around 35 years of age. If you develop these symptoms and your over 50 your likelihood of an extra bone growth causing this pain is higher.

Conventional medicine may be necessary as the nerve pain can be excruciating in most. If so you can go and see your local pharmacist and enquire there. Chiropractors deal with spinal problems and nerve pressures. A chiropractor deals not only with the symptoms but also the cause of pain too – which means that your long term health and a future without painful sciatica RE-OCCURRING is our aim. We would aim to do this with through treatment and a range of simple exercises and other self-help measures to help prevent the pain from returning.

These suggestions include strategies that you can easily adopt to effectively change your posture while walking or sitting, rebalance your nervous system, learn how to strengthen or stretch certain muscles and even changing your diet or sleeping position.

A chiropractor will not only make the manual adjustments necessary for your spine in a pain-free way but also give you the tools you need to change whatever you have to so that your health and wellbeing improves.

To Do at HOME ?

Get up and get moving – walk every 20 minutes for 2 hours of sitting.

Ice pack and Heat Pad – Use a proper cold ice pack (wrapped in a thin towel) and place it on back of your neck for 20 minutes. MINIMUM 10 times per day.

After each session of ice – you can then immediately use a heat pack/ hot water bottle- for 10 minutes (half the time of ice).

Arm wave ??