NERVE ROOT IMPINGEMENT CONDITIONS & TREATMENT

A trapped or compressed nerve can arise from sudden movement or any minor injury, and while the condition is troublesome causing pain, numbness or tingling in the arm, hand or finger etc, the condition is easily treated by mobilisation: gentle oscillatory movement applied at the correct spinal level by an experienced practitioner usually cures the problem completely by freeing pressure on the nerve. Pain killers and muscle relaxants will obviously never be able to free a trapped nerve. Sometimes manipulation is performed to break up adhesions (swathes of bonded flesh that have built up over time causing stiffness and devascularisation, and which affects nerves, resulting in pain).

It can safely be said that for the vast majority of spinal conditions surgery is neither necessary nor effective, as it almost always leads to long term complications and suffering for the patient, out of all proportion to the original condition. The use of metal rods, screws and plates and the cutting away of parts of the spine, even the heating of discs to cause them to shrink (IDET procedure) represent a rather crude approach to the treatment of spinal problems and is not a method of ‘treatment’ that we can ever recommend.