Once again, the cool winter months are upon us. Many people opt to hibernate during this time, because our favorite outdoor activities are more difficult to participate in. Some people are determined to remain energetic by jogging, biking, snowboarding, winter hiking, etc., and putting on additional layers to do the activities we love. I have noticed, in my ten years in practice, that there is an increase in the number of patients coming into the office this time of year, complaining of serious pain connected with pinched nerves.
The spinal column consists of individual spinal vertebrae and houses the spinal cord. The spinal cord runs to every body organ and system of the body by way of a network of nerves leaving the vertebrae or bones in the spine. These vertebrae might turn and modify their position causing pinching of the nerves of the body. This will result in soreness, feeling numb, tingling, a loss of strength, and a loss of performance. Other methods that nerves may pinch is simply by pressure from a spinal disc, also known as a herniated disc, as well as pressure from soft tissues including muscle tissue, ligament, or tendon. The most typical parts of the spine to experience a pinched nerve is in the lower cervical spine, in the neck, especially at the fifth, sixth, or seventh cervical vertebrae.
Countless men and women with cervical pinched nerves could have discomfort in the neck, shoulder, shoulder blade, any part of the arm, the wrist, and typically will have pins and needles or tingling in the fingers. A person often have any just one of these types of symptoms. I have numerous patients with a pinching of the nerves in their neck that only have discomfort in their shoulder, pain in the wrist, occasionally wrongly identified as carpal tunnel syndrome, or even just numbness and tingling in their fingers, and they are uncertain where the cause of the problem is coming from. They might have no neck pain or neck immobility but the root of the problem is actually coming from the spine, because this is the location where the nerve begins. Easy orthopedic exams, and dermatome, each vertebrae is connected with a specific skin region in which discomfort or numbness and tingling is present, exams can identify which vertebrae needs to be remedied to remove the pressure off the nerve.
Another standard location for a pinched nerve in the spine is in the lumbar spine, in the lower back, specifically the third, fourth, and fifth lumbar vertebrae. The most typical pinched nerve in this area of the spine is normally known as sciatica if it involves the sciatic nerve. The fourth lumbar is the origin of the sciatic nerve. When it comes to this impingement, people may have pain just in the back of the leg, it is usually shooting, sharp, as well as burning. They can have pain simply in the buttocks, or pain only in the foot or ankle. Just like in the neck they might have no pain in the low back. Some of these individuals are convinced there is a leg or foot problem, when the reason for the problem is actually originating from much higher up in the spine.
The icy winter season lead to our muscles, tendons, and ligaments to be tighter than in the more comfortable weather. Imagine our muscles, tendons, and ligaments like rubber. Rubber stretches further when in hotter temperatures, but will lose flexibility in the colder weather. This is the same way the soft tissues of our body work. So, in the frigid temperature months our muscles, tendons, and ligaments are not stretching out as far and are actually pulling somewhat harder on the vertebrae of the spine. This may lead to a vertebrae going out of alignment and triggering a pinching of a nerve.
Preventing Pinched Nerves The best injury and pinched nerve prevention, when you find yourself engaging in an activity in the winter months, would be to perform a very gentle warm up. For about ten minutes just before you participate in the activity mimic the motions that you do in your activity. For example mild running, twisting, throwing, lifting, and this really should be at about 10 to 15 percent of your maximum output. This tends to improve blood flow to the muscles, tendons, and ligaments, permitting them to become more elastic and shock absorber ready.
Proper stretching after the warm-up, and then again after the exercise is essential for attaining optimum injury prevention and hopefully avoiding pinched nerves. The issue is that stretching is often carried out improperly. Many people stretch too much and too quickly. Stretches must be mild, and create a soothing sensation of mild stretch or tension. There shouldn't be pain, discomfort, or bouncing movements. The stretch really should be kept for about thirty seconds, but no less than 20. Stretching too intensely, or for less than twenty seconds might initiate a stretch reflex that may essentially make the muscle to tighten-up even more.
