Welcome to the chiropractic and physiotherapy archives and category page of our blog. This section will find articles the pertain to conditions treated best through the combined efforts of our chiropractors and physiotherapists.
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Chiropractic care for neck and back pain works on how the spinal segments share load through a day. When one segment loses movement, the segments next to it take more, and the ache usually appears in the compensating area rather than the restricted one. That is the reason the painful spot and the source are frequently in different places.
C7-T1 is the junction where the mobile cervical spine meets the far stiffer thoracic spine, and transition zones of that kind take more strain than the segments on either side of them. The nerve root leaving here is C8, and its territory is specific: the little finger, the ring finger, and the inner edge of the forearm.
C6-C7 is the joint between the sixth and seventh cervical vertebrae, the lowest freely moving level of the neck and one of the two most commonly involved. The C7 nerve root leaving here has a recognizable territory: the back of the arm, the triceps muscle, and the middle finger.
C4-C5 is the joint between the fourth and fifth cervical vertebrae, sitting between the upper and lower neck and taking load from both. When the C5 nerve root is involved, the symptoms are specific: pain over the top of the shoulder and the outer upper arm, and weakness raising the arm out to the side.
C3-C4 is the joint between the third and fourth cervical vertebrae, in the middle of the neck, and it behaves differently from the levels below it. Problems here rarely send symptoms down into the hand. That referral pattern is why a C3-C4 problem is sometimes treated as a shoulder problem.
L3-L4 is the third and fourth lumbar vertebrae and the disc between them, in the middle of the lower back. The L4 nerve root leaving here supplies the front of the thigh and crosses the knee, so symptoms are felt in the thigh rather than the calf. Position often carries more information than the report.
L1-L2 is the first and second lumbar vertebrae and the disc between them, high in the lower back. The nerves emerging at this level supply the groin and the upper front of the thigh, so symptoms arising here appear there rather than in the calf or the foot, which is one useful clinical clue about the level.
