#10 ZEROING IN ON THE LOWER LUMBAR SPINE -

Let’s talk about how nerve injury can occur ….and why much of the time you cannot judge what’s happening by the presence or absence of pain.

These two photos of the lumbars were included in #9….in this case we have edited them to allow a closer look at the vertebra and the nerves as they exit from the spine.

There is an obvious difference between the two photos; can you see the changes?

With the healthy spine (top photo), the first thing you should consider is the nice big fat healthy lumbar discs. That disc height allows for the opening to be larger where the nerve (because of our design and gravity) must exit. You will also notice that the bones themselves are smooth. The nerve exits with just enough room so that the delicate nerve is neither flopping around nor compressed by the opposing bone.

That’s important - in the living individual the nerve tissue (which is composed largely of fat and water) should fill the exit space completely. It’s really no tougher than cooked spaghetti.

Nerve bundles are composed of a mix of both 1) sensory nerve (ability to feel pain) and also allow the body to perceive sensation such as hot, cold, pressure, pain, pleasure, etc) —

and 2) motor nerves which supply the muscles and nerves designed to supply all the internal organs with life-giving nerve energy. By design, God, in His divine wisdom made us so that these nerves DO NOT feel pain/sensation.

Why does that matter? Why is it important?

Think about it. Let’s just use the stomach for example - if the nerves supplying the stomach allowed us to feel everything life would be nearly impossible. Can you imagine being aware of everything that takes place in the stomach on a daily or even hourly basis? Feeling it happen every time the stomach churned or when the enzymes or gastric juices were made or released. That alone would drive us to distraction. Add to that…what if you also had full sensation of the liver, gallbladder, pancreas, heart, lungs…you name it? Hence those nerves don’t feel pain. Thank goodness.

BUT….what if some of those nerves are then part of the clamped and reddened nerves shown in the spine with the injury? They can indeed be hurting but you simply won’t know it.

And what about that nerve tissue? What’s actually happening to it?

Think about your finger….and imagine that you just hit it with a hammer. Granted, the hands (and feet) are LOADED with sensory nerve. They feel everything. That’s why that tiny pebble in your shoe can feel like you’re stepping on a sharp tack.

But resuming our discussion of that poor finger you just smashed. It would immediately begin to swell…it will become beet red ( maybe even purple) and it will become hot. All unpleasant for sure but also part of the healing process which can take a matter of weeks.

It’s the same for the injured nerve…only more so.

When the finger gets nailed with a hammer, the injury is over and done with (until it happens again) but with the nerve the injury does not stop or reverse. The pressure and damage continues. The energy that is essential to the tissue or organ it supplies is reduced and the energy backs up…resulting in more heat and swelling. Add to that the fact that the nerve needs to pass through a space that is already reduced in size …but the swollen nerve itself is now considerably bigger. A damaged nerve can actually puff up to three times its normal size. That makes for more clamping. A vicious cycle.

If that nerve is supplying a muscle…the muscle will never be able to work to full capacity and if that muscle is meant to contribute to our posture …then the resultant poorer, slumping posture can damage the nerve even more.

The misalignment of the bone which results in injury to the nerve is what a chiropractor calls a vertebral subluxation.

In #11 we will begin to address correction.