Nerve Injury
Damage to a nerve will affect the function of whatever the nerve goes to, just as a spinal misalignment can. It can be very recent as in a bruised nerve from lifting incorrectly, a fall, or even falling asleep in a chair or unnatural position. These usually respond relatively quickly to the correct nutrition. It can be from an old injury to the nerve in which case it may take quite a while to heal. Some can never be healed all of the way. I find, however, that if the exact right nutrition is given to the person in enough quantity, most cases of nerve injury will in fact heal, at least to a level of competent function. Research has shown that nerves can even sprout new endings that can reroute around injury. This is called neuroplasticity. If the damage affects the nerves to the voluntary muscles, exercise may be necessary for maximum healing.
Most damage is from past trauma or injury, however, sometimes it is associated with a past infection in the nervous system or occasionally, part of the brain can be affected by long term low blood sugar in the cells. Certain chemicals can also cause trauma to the nervous tissue. Furthermore, chemical or physical trauma to the nerves may be followed by an infection in the nerves which then exacerbates the original condition.
Nerve damage is often the reason why a specific area is weak. The area controlled by the damaged nerve will not be as strong and will be more prone to whatever stress factors are present. For instance, why did the person get an infection in the left kidney but not the right? The left kidney had weak nerve flow because of past nerve damage and was not as strong. It is often one of the reasons a specific area is more prone to problems.
During muscle testing, past nerve damage may take several visits before it shows up. It is a matter of “peeling the layers off of the onion”. If an area is weak from nerve damage, anything that affects the nerves will allow the condition to flare up or worsen. This includes lack of minerals, blood sugar problems, hormonal problems and overall body energy problems. Because of this, sometimes a person can become frustrated with his associated symptoms going up and down until the nerve to the area becomes healed. Even when the nerve is healed as much as nutrition allows, if something drastically affects the nerves, it may pick this area as the weak link in the nervous system and be the first area where nerve problems are present.
Most commonly, nerve damage is found in the spinal cord and spinal nerve area but it is not limited to this area. It may also be found in a nerve plexus or nerve ganglia areas such as the solar plexus. The brain and internal brain area is another area where this is sometimes apparent. This, of course, can interfere with the regulation of many things, including sleep and heart regulation. Depression may accompany this as well.
The commonly held medical attitude seems to be that nerves do not heal well at all. With the exact right nutrition, I find that it is uncommon that the nerves won’t heal, at least to a point where competent function can be restored, barring a total scarring of the nerve, of course. It does, however, take time. Every nerve cell that you will ever have you are born with. It is not like your skin or your liver where you just grow new cells. So patience may be required.
Once again, many more times than not, the body’s amazing ability to heal itself comes through and chronic problems associated with tissue weakening and nerve damage resolve. If you suspect a chronic problem may be associated with past nerve injury to an area, call (260) 459-6160 (Fort Wayne) (773) 929-3964 (Chicago) for a CEMT appointment.
David A Murdock,D.C.
