As can be seen in the graph below, Upper Cervical care has produced some tremendous results for many of our patients suffering from arm and leg pains. 93% of our patients who reported limb pain as a major complaint realized complete or significant relief within 4 weeks of their initial upper cervical correction.
Limb pain (pain in the arms or legs) which doesn’t resolve on its own is most often the result of nerve irritation or blood vessel impingement. Both can cause aches, numbness, and weakness in the affected limb.
An upper cervical misalignment creates a poor posture as the body compensates for the injury, and this compensation can cause disc bulging which irritates the nerves but it can also cause altered muscular support which can put structures out of their proper position and cause blood vessel impingement.
Correction of the upper cervical misalignment allows the body to return to a more balanced and relaxed posture. This relieves the excess muscle tension of holding up a crooked frame and relieves the stress on the discs.
“I had numbness in my right arm and severe hip pain. Overall back pain for over 20 years which impaired twisting and rotating, limiting my mobility. Following treatment, my hip pain of 20 years is gone and I have absolutely no back pain any more. I am able to do things that I haven’t done in years. Thanks Dr. Kuhn. “ – Lindsay
“I came to see Dr. Creswell because I was experiencing numb hands and arms whenever I laid down. I was tired of going to a traditional chiropractor 2 times a week with very little relief for a severe whiplash injury. I was very skeptical.
Within 1 week of my first treatment I was symptom free! No more numbness, no more sore neck. Not only that, I only have to visit every 3-4 months. Dr. Creswell has made such a difference in the quality of my daily life. Thank you!!” – Cheryl
About the condition
Leg pain and arm pain which does not resolve on it’s own within 1-2 weeks is most often related to injuries affecting the nerves or blood vessels supplying the limb. While both can present with pain in the limb as well as numbness or loss of strength, a detailed history and brief exam can usually identify which it is.
Limb pain resulting from nervous involvement is typically due to impingement of the nerve roots as they exit the neck (to the arm) or the low back (to the legs) and is most often due to injury of the discs between the vertebrae.
Limb pain resulting from interference with the blood flow can have a number of initial causes, but most often in the arms it is due to altered position of the bones of the shoulder which narrow the passage through which the vessels going to and from the arm pass through. In the legs blood flow issues can have more serious consequences but are also much less common.
Theory of how upper cervical treatment helps
There being two main ways to get limb pain, it would make sense that there would be two different ways that upper cervical could help, but that is not the case. In both the case of nerve insult and blood vessel insult, the primary culprit is an unbalanced and strained posture.
When the head and neck are misaligned, the body must compensate in order to keep the eyes level and the head centered over your base of support. This results in global postural compensations making one shoulder higher than the other (often rounding the shoulders into a “stooped” position), and unlevels and twists the hips. This altered posture changes the position of the structures of the shoulder (blood cause) and also puts tremendously more strain into the discs of the spine (nerve cause).
A precise upper cervical correction of a misalignment allows the body to relax back towards it’s ideal and balanced posture, letting the shoulders come back to their ideal position and also relieving the stress on the discs as all of the postural muscles have to work less to keep you upright.