Thankful For CHIROPRACTIC!
STUDIES REVEAL EFFECTS OF SPINAL NERVE ROOT COMPRESSION… In 1975 Seth Sharpless, a researcher at The University of Colorado, did a study on the effects of compression at the level of the nerve root. His finding was that only 8-10mmHg of pressure can have profound effects and result in significant conduction block in the nerve root. The weight of a dime on the back of your hand equals about 8-10mmHg of pressure. Sharpless’s finding was confirmed in a 1995 study that found that when a bundle of nerves known as the cauda equina, (these nerves resemble a horse’s tail as they emanate from the low back and tail bone regions), were compressed at their nerve roots at only 10mmHg pressure it resulted in decreased action potentials. In 1992 B.L. Rydevik, a research scientist, found that it took only 5-10mmHg of pressure at the nerve root to interfere with the supply of nutrition to the nerve root. Finally, M. Hause, another researcher, found that pain is not neccesarily present when nerve roots are compressed. Hause’s study also found that with compression there were mechanical changes, circulatory changes, production of inflamatory agents which will produce pain, and disturbed cerebral spinal flow. What the findings of this research mean to you is that, if you have a subluxation in your spine, it can be responsible for the pain you may or may not feel, and the dysfunction you are experiencing. When a vertebra is misaligned it can cause the nerve root to experience increased pressure which in turn can cause you to suffer from all that these researchers found. Sharpless, SK: Susceptibility of spinal roots to compression block. NINCDS Monograph 15, DHEW publication (NIH) 76-998, 1975, pp155-61. Konno S, Olmarker K, Byrod G, et al: Intermittent cauda equina compression. Spine 1995; 20(1):1223. Rydevik, BL: The effects of compression on the physiology of the nerve roots. JMPT 1992;15(1):62. Hause, M: Pain and the nerve root. Spine 1993;18(14):2053. 5.
