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Arm symptoms
Sometimes one of the small joints in the neck (facet joints) can become inflamed and swollen. The joint presses on the nerve root causing pins and needles, weakness or referred pain down the arm. As the swelling of the joint fluctuates, so does the pressure on the nerve and the symptoms. (See Back Pain and Associated Problems)
Dizziness
Any sensation of imbalance or a lack of a stable relationship with the immediate environment. This can often be associated with problems in the neck. The vertebral artery that runs through the actual vertebrae of the neck can get pinched and this upsets the balance in part of the brain causing dizzy or very faint sensations. One can also get problems from the actual blood pressure when you have problems at the base of the neck and finally the neck problem can upset the balancing mechanism in the ear and that can cause dizzy spells. (See Back Pain and Associated Problems)
Headaches
A headache very similar to migraine results when the external instead of the internal carotid artery is affected, but without the preliminary signs or the nausea and vomiting. The headache can be very severe and often seems to start in one temple or the other. It is more common than migraine and brought on by a similar set of conditions, so the two are often confused. A cervical tensional headache usually radiates towards the back of the head and may reach as far as the root of the neck. I believe the pain which can be crippling, to be caused by the walls of the artery going into a cramp. There is no aura or sickness with this condition
Treatment to the neck and thoracic spine can prevent cervicogenic headaches occurring. (See Back Pain and Associated Problems)
Heart disorders
What is the relationship between neck pain and heart attacks?
The Heart
Unlike most other muscles the heart is unable to lie down and have a sleep. It has to go on pumping throughout your entire life. Its output varies considerably from a trickle when you are asleep to a flow that would fill an average sized bath in 4 minutes when you run after a bus. To keep up with these demands the heart muscle requires an equally versatile blood supply to cover such a huge range of activity. This supply is controlled by contracting or relaxing the circular muscles in the coronary artery wall, varying its size. This necessitates a very sophisticated controlling mechanism, with various centres in the body from those in the heart itself, to the sympathetic nervous centres in the brain stem. This responds to the ever-changing requirements from one moment to the next and therefore there is considerable scope for things to go wrong.
The Stellate Ganglion
The dominant control of the coronaries is from the sympathetic nerve complex at the base of the neck (otherwise known as the stellate ganglion). If for any reason the average output of the stellate ganglion diminishes below demand, the whole coronary artery system will contract excessively, reducing the overall blood supply to the heart. Beyond a certain level this insufficiency produces a cramp in the muscle causing pain known as angina pectoris (pain in the chest).
With advancing age it is normal for the coronary to have patches of disease. These increase the likelihood of blood passing through the artery forming a clot. Fortunately, clots take a while to form so as long as the blood flows reasonably freely they are unlikely. In a moment of major malfunction the stellate ganglion closes the artery off completely. This can give time for a clot to form and in our opinion is almost always the final trigger in a coronary thrombosis. If the sympathetic system remains healthy, the stellate ganglion will not cause a cramp in an artery and then, however diseased the artery is, it is unlikely that a clot would form.
For people having treatment for neck problems, the risk of an extreme malfunction in the stellate ganglion, will be forewarned by the other signs and symptoms associated with this problem. An annual check up should be sufficient to enable a person to have preventative treatment to avoid this unfortunate mishap.
The signs and symptoms that together constitute a warning are stiffness or pain in the neck, muscular pains across the shoulders and the sudden increase of excessive tiredness and indigestion (particularly of a flatulent nature). The person has often become unusually tensed up for some while before the likelihood of a coronary. Blood pressure, if taken, may be on the low side but usually by this time has become hypertensive owing to intervention from the kidneys. There is usually an onset of severe tiredness and indigestion 2-3 days before a coronary occurs.
Common myths
Stress in my opinion does not cause a coronary thrombosis.
Anxiety actually activates the sympathetic nerve system increasing its output. This will therefore increase the size of the coronary arteries, lessening the possibility of a coronary thrombosis.
A person who has a low sympathetic drive and thus inherently narrow coronaries will also become tensed up. This is because the anxiety centre in the brain is stimulated in an effort to lift the sympathetic output: i.e. the low sympathetic output causes both the feeling of tension and the coronary.
Treatment
Of course leading a healthy lifestyle - avoiding being overweight, eating healthily and taking exercise - is extremely important for general health and wellbeing.
In addition to this, exercising the neck and shoulder girdle helps keep the muscles pumping and a regular check up is recommended.
Treatment of the injury to the neck and upper spine is likely to make the person feel considerably better in general health and would give more permanent protection. This will rid the patient of the spasm responsible for the low sympathetic output. The effect of treatment is normally long lasting.
This treatment is also helpful for people with angina pectoris where no major constriction of the artery is present.
Meniere's Disease
Meniere's disease is a disorder of the inner ear that causes dizziness, deafness and noises in the ears (tinnitus). The symptoms are often intermittent at first but the deafness and noises tend gradually to become permanent as the disease progresses.
Symptoms related to Menieres can be helped with treatment to the lymphatic system. (See Lymphatic malfunction)
Migraine
Migraine are responsible for one third of absenteeism in industry. They are due to a malfunction of the stellate ganglion at the base of the neck. When the ganglion is congested a malfunction can be brought about either by its stimulation or by increased congestion around it. Stimulation is caused by tiredness, anxiety (both stimulate the whole sympathetic chain), bright light (it has some control over the pupil of the eye) and indigestible or allergic food (resulting in the redirecting of blood to the stomach). Increased congestion is brought about when asleep at night (reduced muscle pump), by travel (the muscles have extra work maintaining the position of the head against the force of acceleration, braking, cornering etc. This increases the circulation to the muscles but with little increase in the muscle pump thus congesting the area), and by excessive exercise especially using the arms (increased circulation floods the area of the neck and shoulders some time later).
Sufferers also experience psychological attacks brought on by the association with the causes of their real migraine. These spurious attacks disappear as the basic physical disorder is corrected.
The warning symptoms of an attack are when the artery to the brain goes into a spasm. As the brain is deprived of blood it produces visual disturbances, numbness etc. The compensatory dilatation of the artery causes pressure in the skull resulting in the blinding headaches, nausea, vomiting etc.
Treatment to resolve the bruising in the associated facet joints relaxes the protective muscle spasm and restores the muscle pump thus decongesting the area including the stellate ganglion.
As would be expected there is a slightly increased risk of a coronary episode in people suffering from migraine.
The effect of this treatment is often permanent relief. (See Back Pain and Associated Problems)
Rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis is often associated with a low-grade streptococcyl infection - usually in tonsils. A person becomes allergic to either the toxin or their own antibodies. When examined the patient often has enlarged lymph nodes, particularly in the neck region.
If one treats the lymph system by improving the circulation through the large, and partially blocked lymph nodes the ability of the patient to throw off the infection is greatly increased. At the same time they are able to make anti bodies properly and can thus often get rid of the allergies causing the disease. (See Lymphatic malfunction)
Trigeminal neuralgia
Trigeminal neuralgia causes intense pain in the eyes, lips, nose, scalp, forehead and jaw. It is a type of sympathetic dystrophy. Sympathetic nerve fibres controlling the diameter of the blood vessels passing over the head send out excessive messages and put the relevant artery into a cramp. This causes acute pain in its distribution. This can be relieved by treating the neck so that the sympathetic/stellate ganglion does not malfunction and cause these cramps.
Back Pain and Associated Problems
Pain in any part of the neck and back is almost always due to a muscle cramp - there is a slight ache if only a few fibres cramp to an agonising pain if the whole muscle is involved. Facet joints at any level of the spine can press upon spinal nerves causing associated referred pain, and this can be felt in the arm, leg, head or trunk.
The sympathetic nerve centres (sympathetic ganglion) lie virtually on the muscles of the spine. Muscle spasm causes the nerve centres to become waterlogged producing mostly single problems but not infrequently the whole system can be involved causing serious illness (the typical symptoms of ME and chronic fatigue syndrome). Sympathetic malfunction effects mainly blood vessels, joints and the bowel. The other significant problem associated with back problems is considerable disruption of a person's sex life. The effect of pain is obvious but other problems like loss of libido and impotence can be explained by the sympathetic upset.
[ Back ]
Back Treatment
Treatment must be directed at the basic cause of back pain and this is a bruised facet joint. The pressure of the protective muscle spasm must be relaxed, the poor blood circulation from the loss of the muscle pump must be improved, and the associated tissues require stretching to counteract the shortening that takes place through years of the spasm pulling the vertebrae together. This can be achieved by physical medicine using The Sherwood Technique.
The Autonomic Nervous System
A large number of functions in the body take place without any conscious interference. To achieve this we have two separate and somewhat opposed nerve systems; together they are called the autonomic nervous system. The sympathetic adrenalin system is responsible for all maintenance and repair in the body, including regulating all parameter levels such as blood pressure, blood sugar, and general levels of energy. It also is involved in creating a state of super efficiency to make the body more able to cope in a physical emergency such as if a lion was seen 50 metres away - fright is associated with this. The sympathetic nerve centres (sympathetic ganglia) controlling the whole system lie along the muscles of the back and rely on them for a proper circulation. This accounts for the fact that so many apparently unrelated problems such as indigestion, dizziness, depression and fatigue can be caused by a back problem.
The opposing system is the parasympathetic system that comes into its own after a meal, making the person torpid and activating all the digestive processes. The parasympathetic nerve centre (parasympathetic ganglia) lie in the brainstem protected by the skull and is not therefore prone to malfunction.
A lymphatic malfunction
The Lymphatic System is the sewage system of the body. Ducts from the tissue spaces between the cells drain the fluid through the lymph nodes back to the circulating blood. The lymph nodes are similar to sewage farms, filtering and detoxifying the fluid before recycling it. They also perform the further function of producing antibodies against foreign protein as found in invading bacteria or viruses carried to them from the tissue spaces. The Tonsils, Adenoids, and Appendix are all part of the lymphatic system.
One of the most common complaints is the recurrent streptococcal throat infection. This is relieved in many cases by the removal of the Tonsils and possibly the Adenoids denoting the fact that at least these organs can suffer damage. A number of cases, however, are only partly improved by this manoeuvre and a few not at all. In all these cases the cervical (neck) lymph nodes are to a varying extent enlarged and hard. If the Tonsils are prone to a breakdown of function - why not the lymph nodes as well? When large and hard they are either working overtime, which is unlikely in the view of the continuing nature of the illness, or overloaded, functioning poorly and partially obstructed. The fact that they can break down supports the latter view.
Consideration of other chronic infections shows that in their specific drainage areas a similar condition of enlarged and hard lymph nodes occurs. E.g. enlarged cervical (neck) nodes with chronic sinusitis and recurrent loss of voice. Enlarged ileac (abdominal) nodes with chronic cystitis and enlarged chest lymph nodes with chronic bronchitis.
This is further borne out by the fact that these nodes can be restored to normal function by treatment forcing fluid through them and by breaking up the debris in them by means of electrical and ultrasonic wave treatment. As the nodes clinically improve so, shortly afterwards, does the state of the infection and patient.
As the blockage lessens the drainage from the area improves resulting in an overall higher resistance to infection; thus of course eliminating that already present. Secondly, normal function of the lymph nodes results in a quicker and stronger antibody response. |
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