Are you a victim of neck pain, upper-back pain or headaches?  What about arm, hand or even shoulder pain?  Do you get sharp, 'catchy' pain in your neck in certain positions?  Have you ever woken up in the morning with a 'crick' in your neck?  Does your neck get stiff or do you have uneven/decreased ranges of motion/inability to move your head in certain areas?  Have you ever had a car accident and never been to see a chiropractor?

 

If so, you most likely have some degree of a herniated disc in your neck or upper back.  Herniated discs cause pinched nerves in the back or neck and this is generally the cause of most patient's neck/back pain and even hand or arm pain.

If this is the case, you’ll need a good chiropractor.  You see, herniated discs are generally caused by misalignments of your spinal bones.  In our experience, we find these problems mostly occur from physical injuries, car accidents, repetitive motions at work, lifting improperly or even just positions we get in.  If you’ve ever woken up in the morning with a ‘crick’ in your neck, you’ve most likely slept in a position that slightly injured one of your cervical discs.  The pinched nerve caused muscle spasms that lasted for 2-7 days.  So you walked around with a stiff neck (and sharp neck pain) for a few days, but wait…. It went away in about 7-10 days.

In actuality, the spine is made of moveable segments and will compensate for problems.  When the disc material shifts, it cracks through protective layers (the herniation) and bulges into the nerve.  After about a week, other segments of the spine will shift slightly to compensate for the problem, swelling will come down and your symptoms will go away.

Unfortunately, it’s only your symptoms that are gone, while the problem remains.  As soon as the disc problem occurred, you should’ve visited us as Blue Ridge Family Chiropractic and had your spine re-aligned.  You see, most of the time, until the alignment problem is corrected, it will remain in your spine and begin a process of degeneration called degenerative disc disease.  For many patients chiropractic care slows and stops the progression of degenerative disc disease and osteoarthritis of the spine.

Once your discs have degenerated past a certain point, the damage is permanent and you will have a permanent weakness in your spine.  Until you’ve received proper treatment, like correctly delivered chiropractic care, your discs will continue to degenerate and your pinched nerve problems will become worse and more numerous.  You may permanently lose ranges of motion with your neck; or chronic pinched nerves may become damaged leaving you with residual problems like carpal tunnel syndrome or chronic tendonitis. 

We offer a specific type of re-alignment of the spine called Gonstead Chiropractic.  The treatments are painless and feel as though your knuckle ‘popped’.  Many of our patients have immediate relief of their symptoms directly following a Gonstead specific chiropractic adjustment.  Before any treatments are made, we always study information from our exams, diagnostic testing and a specific analysis of your condition on full spine x-rays.  This way, we can assure the treatment will be as accurate as possible; this is a key element in achieving the fastest recovery possible.

When we perform Gonstead spinal adjustments, great care is taken to make sure we are on the right segment and that the contact on the segment is as specific as possible.  The angles of the joint, mechanics of other areas of the spine and details of your overall condition are all taken into account for each patient we treat.  We also use an instrument that helps us monitor areas of your spine that are getting better.  The instrument (called a nervo-scope) measures temperature given off from inflammation in your spine that would be there from a misalignment, pinched nerve or herniated disc.

Gonstead spinal adjustments re-align your spine, reduce inflammation, re-position bulged/herniated discs and correct pinched nerves.  In most cases, it only takes us a few treatments to know whether or not your problem is correctible or how far you’ll be able to take your correction.  Using our instrument, we can pin-point and find exactly where your spinal problems are – regardless of your degree of pain. 

You can have a herniated disc and pinched nerve in your neck and have neck pain, headaches, arm pain, shoulder pain, TMJ, elbow pain, wrist/hand pain, numbness and weakness in the upper extremities.  Pinched nerves in the neck are almost always involved with carpal tunnel syndrome cases.  In our experience, many carpal tunnel syndrome cases will cannot be corrected completely (if possible) without addressing this issue.  You can have herniated discs and pinched nerves in your upper/mid back and have back pain, shoulder pain, pain underneath your shoulder blades, chest pain, shortness of breath and indigestion/heartburn.

Herniated discs and pinched nerves in your low back cause low back pain, hip pain (in one side or both), leg pain, numbness or weakness in the legs, knees, ankles or feet and knee pain.  Severe disc problems in the low back can cause you to be ‘stuck’ bent over, crooked or in a certain position.  They can even affect your bowel or bladder function. 

If you’ve had any of the above problems or are having them now, call Dr. Levesque, D.C. at Blue Ridge Family Chiropractic AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.  Don’t let your spine degenerate another day without consulting with Dr. Levesque and letting him exam your back or neck.  He will perform a painless exam and a nerv-o-scopic thermographic spinal scan to help determine the cause of your problem. 

If you would like a NO CHARGE consultation and exam with Dr. Levesque, DC please fill out the form below: