Arm Pain

Arm pain originating from the neck is a common complaint experienced by quite a few people today.  Arm pain may arise from several different causes. The most common cause is pressure on the spinal nerves in the neck back.  Sharp, shooting pains down the arm tend to be the classic arm pain exhibited, due to compression of the spinal nerves, whereas, dull, aching pain usually originates in the muscles, bones or ligaments.

Lets start out by explaining a little bit about the anatomy of the neck and arm.  The neck consists of bones stacked on top of each other.   Ligaments attach the bones to each other, and muscles attach to the bones helping them to move.  The spinal cord exits the brain and travels down the center of these bones.  Spinal nerves branch off the cord and exit through holes created by the top and bottom bone.  These nerves go out to the different parts of the body and “make it work”.  Some of these nerves come together and form a nerves of the brachial plexus.  These nerves travel down the arm.

Now that I have you completely confused…lets see if I can simplify it a little.

When the neck bones called “vertebra” move they can cause the diameter of the hole called the “intervertebral foramen” to change.  When the bones  move out of position, pressure on the spinal nerves occurs and can cause neck pain, arm pain, numbness, tingling, or even a burning sensation.  The pads between the vertebra called the intervertebral discs or just “discs” for short can also tear and buldge, putting pressure on these nerves, too.

The body does not like to have pressure on the spinal nerves.  Add a sufficient amount of pressure and the nerves can be permanently damaged or even die.  Neck pain and arm pain is the body’s way of telling you that there is something wrong.  The body reacts to this pressure by making all the muscles in the area tighten up and spasm.  This is a protective mechanism to help prevent further vertebra movement and nerve damage.  This tightening causes an aching or dull neck pain and arm pain.  This tightening is not enough to protect the nerves, so the body releases a chemical called histamine into the area.  This dilates the the blood vessels and makes them leak.  This causes swelling….which causes more neck pain and arm pain.

Simple Huh?

How do you fix this?

First you have to get the bones in the back gently moved back into their normal position.  This is done in the office by me, Dr. Steven Pierce.  I’m a Jacksonville,Texas, Chiropractor.  I have been dealing with injuries and conditions such as this since I graduated in 1989.  Through gentle adjustments to the spine, we work to restore not only the alignment but the help restore the proper motion in the joints.   When the pressure comes off the nerves, the body begins to relax the muscles and begins cleaning up the “chemical spill” in the area….and the pain starts to reduce.

Call us today.  We are here to help.