We’re here to help you at Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic with a diagnosis, treatments, and some self-care tips to get you feeling better soon!

What is a Pinched Nerve?

Nerve pathways carry signals between your body and brain via your spinal cord. Sometimes a nerve gets compressed by nearby tissues.

This pressure may cause numbness, tingling and pain in areas of the body affected by that nerve. A pinched nerve may also produce muscle weakness or the feeling that your body part has “fallen asleep.”

Commonly, pinched nerves originate in your neck and back.  You can also get them in your elbow, wrist or hand.

For example, herniated spinal discs may press on nerves, producing sciatic pain down the leg. Or a pinched nerve in your wrist can cause carpal tunnel syndrome.

In most cases, pinched nerves get better with conservative, noninvasive treatments.

Causes of Pinched Nerves  

Anyone can get a pinched nerve, although your risks go up with age. Damage from wear and tear on your spine can cause spinal discs to lose their cushioning ability, leading to nerve compression.

Other conditions that may compress nerves include:

• Injuries
• Osteoarthritis, which can cause nerve-compressing bone spurs
• Rheumatoid arthritis, which produces inflammation
• Herniated discs
• Being overweight
• Diseases such as diabetes that damage nerves
• Repetitive activities that inflame nerves
• Poor ergonomic practices
• Pregnancy

Chiropractic Care for Pinched Nerves

Getting treatment for your pinched nerve may help relieve discomfort more quickly than waiting it out. Resolving the compression helps reduce the possibility of permanent nerve damage and chronic pain.

Often, spinal misalignments contribute to pinched nerves. When your spine isn’t aligned properly, bones, muscles and other tissues can move out of place and push against nerves.

Treatments from your chiropractor may include spinal adjustments, massage therapy, and exercises to stretch and strengthen muscles. Spinal adjustments address the source of the problem by restoring alignment, and removing pressure from the nerve. An aligned spine can also minimize the risk of future pinched nerves.

Prevention and Home Care

You can help a pinched nerve heal and reduce future risks with good home care and lifestyle practices:

• Get plenty of rest: Sleep enables your body to repair itself.
• Stay at a healthy weight to reduce pressure on nerves.
• Do low-impact aerobic exercise to safely maintain mobility.
• Promote flexibility with gentle stretching, massage, and yoga.
• Reduce time spent on repetitive tasks and take frequent breaks.
• Maintain good posture to avoid aggravating or causing pinched nerves.
• Practice good ergonomics. For instance, hold your smartphone at eye level to prevent neck pain and misalignments.
• Keep moving and avoid prolonged sitting.  Try not to sit with legs crossed, which compresses leg nerves.
• Alternate ice and heat several times daily to improve circulation and reduce swelling and inflammation.
• Avoid: repetitive or sudden movements, high impact exercise, and heavy lifting.

Regular chiropractic care works together with your healthy lifestyle habits to maximize your health potential!

Book Your Complimentary Consultation at Eastern Oklahoma Chiropractic

Begin your pain relief today by calling our Broken Arrow office at 918-940-4630.

The post Chiropractic and Home Care for Your Pinched Nerve first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

Many unwanted symptoms people experience exhibit a direct and indirect connection to the spine. Current medical research provides a thorough explanation for how a Chiropractic adjustment influences many aspects of human health and performance. The process begins with the brain. An intimate connection exists between the health of the spine and the function of the brain. Spinal mobility and alignment contribute to the function of nerve signals into and out of the brain. The brain directs all function of the body and altered spinal health leads to a change in brain function. The overall impact radiates throughout the body.

Doctors debated the connection between the spine, nervous system, and body function back in the early stages of Chiropractic care in the 1920s. A medical doctor named Henry Winsor heard that Chiropractic patients were experiencing significant health benefits with problems seemingly unrelated to the spine. Dr. Winsor investigated and found that many Chiropractic patients experienced benefits beyond improved treatment for back or neck pain. Concerned and skeptical with what he was hearing, Dr. Winsor set out to disprove the theory in which a Chiropractic adjustment could affect any area of the body outside of the spine. He conducted his own research.

Dr. Winsor dissected the spines of cadavers with the intent to prove no correlation between the health of the spine and organ disease. He received permission and access to dissect and analyze the spines of 50 human cadavers. Not only did Dr. Winsor find a link between the health of the spine and the function of organs, he noted a direct correlation between diseased organs and the alignment of their spine in specific areas.  He found links between a curvature of the spine in the area of the nervous system which controlled that specifically diseased organ. Diseased organs drew conclusive connection to misalignments in the spine which would have altered function in the nervous system supplying communication to that organ. These findings were revolutionary in understanding why so many patients experienced health benefits and improved health in specific organs after beginning Chiropractic care. A 100% correlation occurred between the abnormal alignment and condition of a specific area of the spine and the nervous system which supplied the corresponding organ.

The same doctor which set out to debunk the truth about Chiropractic and its influence on organ function proved the opposite conclusion. Chiropractic helps family members of all ages experience greater function and a higher quality of life without the use of drugs or surgery. This study continues to play an important role in helping explain the necessity of Chiropractic care for all family members. Better health involves Chiropractic care.

The post Research Reveals Shocking Findings of the Spine by Medical Doctor : Why Chiropractic Matters… first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

New York Times published an article explaining that dozens of teams continue research designed to create an implantable device with potential to change the function of the nervous system. The story details the process of creating a device that uses electricity to send impulses throughout the body to exert influence over many functions. The electrical impulses intend to serve as treatment in place of drug therapy.

GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, hired dozens of teams to design the prototype.

The device will serve like a pacemaker and monitor specific hormones and electrical activity from the body’s organs. Precise electrical impulses will seek to change the function of organs and areas of concern.  Current technology and science advocates for less use of pharmaceutical drugs and more attention to the central nervous system. Science labeled this new wave of research medicine as bio-electronic medicine. Experts believe that science will eventually create an on/off switch for specific genes thought to be beneficial and detrimental to health.

This new information and research on the nervous system shines an interesting light on the importance of caring for the spine.  Spinal health is important because it house the spinal cord, the electrical conduit for all function in the body. The body already possesses the ability to heal the body through the brain, spinal cord, and nervous system. Chiropractic adjustments remove interference from the nervous system to ensure better communication from the brain.

No scientific development compares to the perfection and precision occurring every second in the body’s brain and nervous system.

No human needs to consciously remind the body to breath, pump blood, fight off foreign invaders, or digest food. This is because, the body naturally pursues optimal health and function. People make choices that support the body’s pre-programmed desire for health. Proper eating, sleeping, and exercise habits comprise a few daily maintenance decisions made daily by millions. An occasionally overlooked detriment to health manifests in the form of nervous system interference. Disruption in spinal cord alters normal organ and hormone balance.

Interference comes in many shapes, sizes, and areas of the body. In fact, research shows that altered vertebral movement and alignment in the spine triggers a chain reaction of adverse events within the body. The spine’s intimate relationship with the autonomic nervous system means that misaligned spinal segments create resultant consequences throughout the body.

Research from 2017 detailed the significantly positive impact in which Chiropractic adjustments make on the brain, nervous system function, and whole-body health. Researchers used a PET scan to measure brain and nervous system activity before and after a Chiropractic adjustment. Every aspect of brain function improved in the subjects who were adjusted.

Evidence-based research proves a link between Chiropractic adjustments and function.

Chiropractic led to improved sleep, better digestion, changes in fertility, stronger immunity, better breathing, improved attention span and concentration, and so much more. Chiropractic does not pursue the treatment of symptoms and conditions.  Rather, spinal adjustments serve as the world’s foremost method of preventative health care. Adjustments remove interference from the brain and nervous system and allow the body to function at optimal capacity. The body contains such magnificent potential for healing that science continues to invest millions of dollars in pursuit of mimicking capability which already exists within the body when the body maintains a high functioning command center. It just further proves, the best health care available begins with Chiropractic.

The post It’s All About the Brain & Nervous System… PET Scans Show the Benefits of Chiropractic on Nervous System Function first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.

First of all, evaluate your sleeping posture.  If you prefer to sleep on your back, you need a pillow with the support (neck roll) under your neck.  The bulk of the pillow should not be under your head.  If your preference is to sleep on your side, you need a thicker pillow to keep your head in line with your neck.  If you are sleeping on a feather pillow that flattens out during the night or a thin foam pillow, that isn’t going to work.  You will spend a lot of the night with your head tilted towards the bed pinching off the nerves that exit your spine.  That causes you to wake up with neck pain and numbness.

Secondly,  I really like to read at night before I go to bed.  It’s a nice little ritual that helps me wind down from my day and makes me tired.  I found a pillow at Walmart here in Broken Arrow that is perfect for holding a kindle or a book.  It even has a nice pocket if you wear reading glasses.  It is shaped like a pyramid and has a little ridge around it the reader sits within.  For those of you who like books, it also has a long tassel to keep your page.  You can keep it on your lap, your table or take it to bed.  It keeps the book at an angle so your head isn’t constantly looking down.

Thirdly, ask yourself why you have neck pain and headaches.  Have you left a problem untreated for years only for your muscular imbalances to worsen?  Do you spend endless hours on devices such as laptops, phones, and tablets?  Do you have a career that restricts you to a desk and computer the majority of the day?

It’s important to ask yourself what shape you want your spine to be in 5 years from now.  If the answer is better than it is right now, you need to change your device habits and also find a chiropractor so that you can correct the damage that years of looking forward and down have caused.

The post Do you wake up with neck pain and numbness? first appeared on Chiropractor Broken Arrow.