Pinched nerve relief is only possible to achieve once the correct cause of nerve compression has been identified and successfully treated. Although this sounds like a simple and logical plan, the reality of nerve pain is complex and many patients are incorrectly diagnosed. It is this misdiagnosis that often results in a case of long-term unresolved back pain for the patient. In order to find the proper cure for a pinched nerve, it is crucial to first and foremost discover its true cause.
The scope of this article will provide some guidance on ascertaining the true source of symptoms theorized to involve spinal nerve tissues that have been victimized by structural compression.
Seeking Pinched Nerve Relief
Most cases of physically-induced radiculopathy are diagnosed via advanced imaging technologies and successfully treated using a variety of conservative therapy options. However, some cases of severe or stubborn nerve pain require more drastic treatments. Regardless, anatomical reasons for nerve compression generally respond well to appropriate corresponding treatment modalities.
Most true compressed nerves will produce definitive symptomatic expressions which will provide evidence of their compromised state. Patients will demonstrate expected clinical symptoms which will correlate to the diagnosis. When treating these types of actual compressive conditions, there are few curative modalities which can change the spinal anatomy and resolve the suffering. Spinal decompression is a possible nonsurgical method of care for some particular types of pinched nerves, while surgical interventions are widely used to treat all varieties of neurological compression.
If treatments are not successful, although the suspect source of compression has been resolved, then there is something amiss in the diagnostic theory. There might be another structural cause of pain yet undetermined in the spine. There may be complications from a former surgical treatment, such as nerve damage or scar tissue, causing the pain. In some cases, the symptoms may turn out to be completely nonphysical and are likely driven by a psychosomatic mechanism.
Psychogenic Nerve Pain Relief
In the case of psychogenic nerve pain, the actual process causing the expression is not compression, but ischemia. Nothing is actually pressing on the nerve, although there might be a coincidental scapegoat condition, such as a herniated disc or bone spur previously blamed for the symptoms.
The nerve is being starved of life energy by a purposeful effort to deprive it of necessary oxygen. This process is caused by the subconscious mind, using the autonomic system to constrict small blood vessels feeding the nerve. Ischemia limits the supply of blood to the affected region and therefore, cellular oxygenation is reduced, bringing on painful symptoms in both nerve and muscle tissues. This process is silent and secret, leaving few traces of evidence in its wake. It is a variable process, which helps explain the otherwise illogical diversity of symptoms experienced by many patients. Remember, these types of variable expressions could not be attributed to a single spinal pinched nerve.
Achieving Lasting Pinched Nerve Relief
It is important for all patients to play an active role in their own recovery process from any disease or injury. Back pain is no exception to that rule. Patients must learn why their torment is not getting better, even after undergoing a variety of therapies and procedures from several care providers. To understand this common scenario, some patients might be wise to learn more about knowledge therapy. This treatment will work to correct all emotional and psychological causes and perpetuating factors which may be responsible for their chronic pain.
If their pain turns out to be physical and anatomical, then the knowledge has not done any harm, nor cost any money, and can always be used in the future to maintain a state of improved general health. However, if the pain does indeed turn out to be of mindbody origin, then this knowledge based approach has the best chances of providing lasting relief.
