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Trapped Nerves
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Get out of pain
Why wait in pain? Call for an appointment today.
A "trapped nerve" is often a term used to describe
certain neck and back conditions
that do not involve the nerve
at all.
Usually if you have a trapped
nerve in the neck or back you will experience pain
in the associated limb, such as the arm or leg. This
pain can often be worse than the pain in the neck or
back and can be accompanied by pins and needles and
numbness.
If you are not experiencing
this type of pain please see our
Neck & Head or
Low
Back Pain pages. If
you are in doubt then please call the clinic and
speak to one of our osteopaths, who will be happy to
speak to you on the phone.
Nerves can be thought of as flexible wires that
convey messages through the body. There are motor
nerves that take nerve impulses to the muscles and
glands. Sensory nerves take signals from sensory
nerve endings in the eyes, ears, nose, skin, muscles
and joints. Nerves called inter-neurones lie in
the brain and spinal cord, (together called the
central nervous system) It is in the central nervous
system that the incoming information from the sense
organs is filtered and interpreted. From the central
nervous system messages are sent out (consciously
and unconsciously) to run our bodies and co-ordinate
our actions.
The spinal cord runs from the base of the skull down
the spinal canal inside the spine. There are gaps on
each side between the bones of the spine where the
spinal nerves emerge. The spinal nerves are bundles
of motor and sensory nerve cells that go to the
limbs and chest and abdominal wall. Nerves also
emerge from the base of the skull (cranial nerves)
to get to the ears, eyes, tongue, nose and muscles
of the head.
The nerves can be injured within the spinal canal,
as they exit it, or as they run down the arms and
legs.
There are a number of commonly used terms for
different sorts of nerve problem. Neuralgia means
nerve pain, neuritis means nerve inflammation,
neurogenic means coming from the nerve and
neuropathic means concerning nerve disorders.
The status of the nervous system can be assessed
clinically by a neurological examination. Osteopaths
will examine the spinal and cranial nerves system as
part of their examination of the patient, when
indicated.
Osteopaths deal with nerve conditions (and many
other conditions) where peripheral nerves have
become physically compressed, irritated or
stretched, such as sciatica, carpal tunnel syndrome
or brachial neuralgia.
It is unlikely an osteopath will be able to help
with some other conditions that can affect nerves, such as
MS, Parkinsons disease, myasthenia gravis,
syringomyelia, or motor neurone diseases other than
to offer symptomatic relief.
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