The Brachial Plexus is a nerve in your upper body that when impinged can cause pain and numbness to your arms and hands.
Chiropractors correct vertebral subluxations which cause spinal nerve stress. Depending on which nerves are affected you may experience pain, tingling, tightness, weakness, pins-and-needles, or other symptoms in these body parts.
Your brachial plexus is made up of nerves which come out of the miffle and lower neck and upper back and branch off to supply different areas of the body, especially the shoulders, arms, elbows, wrists, hands, and fingers. Many things can cause one of these nerves becomes impinged or “pinched,” some including long standing spinal stress, old injuries from childhood, new injuries from sports mishaps, car accidents (especially whiplash), arthritis, sleeping in awkward positions, and even chronic emotional tension.
What are the results of brachial plexus injury? Depending on which nerves are involved, different problems may be experienced. There may be neck stiffness or pain that may radiate to your shoulder and elbow and down to your arm, wrist, hand, or fingers. Sometimes there’s clicking or extremity pain but not neck pain. Sometimes there;s no pain but numbness or feelings of heat, cold, or swelling; or pain in one area and numbness in another; or pins-and-needles, muscle weakness, or spasm.
Due to the complicated way nerves interrelate, conditions such as headache, migraine, facial pain, dizziness, limited or painful or stiff motion of the head and neck, throat conditions, thyroid, nasal problems, low back pain, and even epilepsy can be caused by brachial plexus damage. Chiropractic care is essential for anyone with shoulder, arm, elbow, and hand problems to relieve nerve stress and permit the spine, as well as the rest of the body to function normally.
by Dr. Tedd Koren
