Nerve Pain: Chiropractor Discusses Non-Invasive Management Options.
Treatment for Nerve Pain and Neuropathy at Vitality Chiropractic Australia
Your nervous system is the command center of your body, orchestrating every process—from regulating body temperature and activating sweat glands to coordinating muscle contractions and ensuring your heart beats steadily. At Vitality Chiropractic Australia, we understand the critical role your nervous system plays in your overall health and well-being. When nerve issues like neuropathy or nerve pain arise, they can disrupt your life. Our experienced chiropractors specialize in gentle, effective therapies to help alleviate nerve pain and restore vitality.
Understanding Your Nervous System
The nervous system is a complex network comprising three main types of nerves, each with a unique function:
- Autonomic Nerves: These regulate both involuntary actions (like heartbeat, digestion, and respiration) and some voluntary actions, ensuring your body functions smoothly without conscious effort.
- Motor Nerves: These transmit signals from the brain through the spinal cord to control muscle movements, enabling actions like walking or lifting.
- Sensory Nerves: These facilitate sensations such as touch, temperature, and pain, allowing you to interact with your environment.
When the nervous system is compromised, it can lead to conditions like neuropathy or nerve pain, which can severely impact your quality of life. Symptoms vary depending on the location (brain, spinal cord, or peripheral nerves) and the type of nerves affected.
What is Neuropathy and Nerve Pain?
Neuropathy refers to damage or dysfunction of one or more nerves, resulting in symptoms like burning nerve pain, tingling, or numbness. This condition can stem from various causes and may affect your ability to perform daily tasks. At Vitality Chiropractic Australia, we specialize in identifying the root causes of nerve pain and providing chiropractic care for neuropathy to help you regain function and comfort.
Common Causes of Nerve Pain and Neuropathy
Nerve pain can arise from a wide range of conditions. Some of the most common causes we address in our chiropractic practice include:
- Spinal misalignment (subluxation): Misaligned vertebrae can compress nerves, causing chiropractic nerve pain relief needs.
- Disc herniation or disc bulge: These spinal issues can pinch nerves, leading to sciatica nerve pain or cervical radiculopathy.
- Arthritis: Inflammation in joints can irritate nearby nerves, contributing to chronic nerve pain.
- Carpal tunnel syndrome: Compression of the median nerve in the wrist causes wrist nerve pain or hand numbness.
- Diabetes: High blood sugar levels can damage peripheral nerves, leading to diabetic neuropathy.
- Nutritional deficiencies: Lack of essential vitamins like B12 can trigger peripheral neuropathy symptoms.
- Infections or autoimmune conditions: Conditions like shingles, lupus, or Guillain-Barré syndrome can cause nerve damage.
- Physical trauma: Injuries from accidents or repetitive strain can lead to post-traumatic nerve pain.
- Other conditions: These include trigeminal neuralgia, fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, spinal fractures, motor neuron disease, myasthenia gravis, or, in rare cases, nerve compression from tumors.
At Vitality Chiropractic Australia are trained to assess and manage these conditions using gentle chiropractic adjustments and complementary therapies tailored to your needs.
Signs and Symptoms of Neuropathic Pain
Nerve pain and neuropathy can manifest in various ways, depending on the nerves affected. If you’re experiencing any of the following symptoms, consult a healthcare professional, such as our chiropractors, for a thorough assessment:
- Burning or shooting pain: Often described as a sharp, electric-shock-like sensation.
- Tingling and numbness: Common in the hands, feet, or legs, signaling peripheral nerve damage.
- Muscle weakness or atrophy: Reduced muscle strength or size due to impaired nerve signals.
- Muscle twitching or spasms: Involuntary movements linked to nerve irritation.
- Loss of reflexes: Partial or complete loss of reflex response.
- Neuralgia: Intense, stabbing pain along a specific nerve pathway, such as in trigeminal neuralgia relief.
- Total or partial muscle paralysis: Severe cases where nerve damage prevents muscle movement.
Early intervention is key to managing neuropathic pain symptoms effectively. At Vitality Chiropractic Australia, we provide personalized care to address these issues and promote healing.
Solutions for Nerve Pain
Chiropractic care is a safe, non-invasive approach to managing nerve pain and neuropathy. We use evidence-based techniques to alleviate nerve irritation, improve spinal function, and enhance nervous system function. Here are the top three treatment options we offer:
- Chiropractic Adjustments for Nerve Pain Relief
Gentle spinal adjustments correct misalignments (subluxations) that may compress nerves, reducing chronic nerve pain and improving mobility. This is particularly effective for conditions like sciatica nerve pain relief or cervical neuropathy. - Soft Tissue Therapy
Techniques like myofascial release and trigger point therapy target muscle tension and inflammation, which can exacerbate peripheral neuropathy symptoms. These therapies enhance blood flow and reduce nerve irritation. - Lifestyle and Nutritional Guidance
We provide tailored advice on nutrition, exercise, and posture to support nerve health and prevent further damage. For example, addressing vitamin B12 deficiency neuropathy through diet can significantly improve symptoms.
CHIROPRACTIC
Depending on the individual circumstances, Chiropractic management may be beneficial. Chiropractic is a holistic non-invasive manual therapy that focuses on improving ones total health and wellbeing by altering the function of their nervous system. Chiropractic achieves this via numerous avenues, most commonly improving posture, altering spinal alignment and reducing nervous system interference.
MEDICATIONS
Common prescription medications for neuropathic pain include anticonvulsants, anti-depressants, opiods (pain killers) and topical agents. Typical side effects of such approaches include nausea, drowsiness, vertigo and dizziness. Be sure to consult your doctor regarding prescription medication that is suitable for your individual situation.
SURGICAL INTERVENTION
In rare circumstances, surgery may be warranted for individuals in extremely severe cases. Approaches may include nerve blocking and nerve severing.
Why Choose Vitality Chiropractic Australia?
- Expert Chiropractors: Our team is highly trained in diagnosing and treating nerve pain causes using gentle, non-invasive methods.
- Personalized Care Plans: We create customized treatment plans to address your unique symptoms, whether you’re seeking chiropractic for sciatica or neuropathy pain management.
- Holistic Approach: We combine chiropractic care with lifestyle recommendations to promote long-term nerve health and vitality.
- Convenient Location: Serving the Melbourne and wider community, we make it easy to access chiropractic neuropathy treatment near you.
Contact Us Today
Don’t let nerve pain or neuropathy hold you back from living your best life. At Vitality Chiropractic Australia, we’re dedicated to helping you find relief and restore your vitality through expert chiropractic care. If you’re experiencing symptoms like burning nerve pain, tingling in hands and feet, or muscle weakness, contact us today for a comprehensive assessment.
Chiropractor Nerve Pain Research
- Clinically significant improvements were noted in pain and overall disability following Chiropractic management in individuals suffering symptoms of lumbar radiculopathy highlighting the viable option of using it as a nerve pain treatment. Murphy, D.R., Hurwitz, EL., McGovern, E.E (2009). A nonsurgical approach to the management of patients with lumbar radiculopathy secondary to to herniated disc: A prospective observational cohort study with follow up. Journal of Manipulative & Physiological Therapeutics, 32(9); 723 – 733
- Conservative Chiropractic management produced favourable outcomes for majority of patients suffering radiculopathy in a hospital setting. Christense, K. et al (2008). Chiropractic outcomes managing radiculopathy in a hospital setting : A retrospective review of 162 patients. Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, 7(3); 115 – 125
