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REFERRED
PAIN
In between every vertebrae in the spine is a cushion of jelly
(the disc) which acts as a shock absorber and cushions each
and every step. When the disc bulges backwards it traps the
nerve where it leaves the spinal canal. This causes pressure
which results in pain but where the pain is felt depends on
how much pressure the disc is exerting on the nerve. The body
works like a telephone exchange. If there is a problem on
the line you can only tell which phone line is out of order
not where the fault actually lies. The body is very similar.
If there is a problem between the brain and say the ankle
the brain can not tell exactly where along the nerve the fault
lies. The brain doesn't know whether you hit your ankle on
a chair, or whether the nerve between the brain and the ankle
is being trapped in the back. Each nerve is arranged so that
the nerve fibres which have furthest to travel lie in the
centre of the nerve and those which are going to branch off
sooner lie around the outside. Therefore the more pressure
the disc exerts on the nerve the further away the patient
feels the pain. For example pain in the hip would result from
less pressure on the nerve than pain in the ankle. This is
called referred pain. When there is so much pressure on the
nerve that its conduction of messages is affected the sensation
of pins and needles is felt. If the pressure is enough to
stop the nerve working completely the part of the body supplied
by that nerve feels numb to the touch. See slipped
disc and back pain.
TREATMENT
Removing the cause of the irritation of the nerve by changing
the mechanics with the MacKenzie
Exercise Regime and reducing the inflammation with Connective
Tissue Manipulation treats referred pain .
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