I just got home from Toronto where I refreshed my knowledge of the nervous system, specifically the brachial plexus, and finessed some techniques to help with nerve pain particular to the cervical spine, upper extremity and old whiplash injuries that, in some cases, may be the underlying, often overlooked, culprit due to restrictions they can cause, sometimes even years later, in the cervical spine, clavicle and upper ribs. Old MVA, Concussion, fall snowboarding? This is for you.
All of the techniques are gentle in nature and it never ceases to amaze me how much of an impact we can have with such little touch and release of the tissues surrounding these structures. This course was a wonderful complement to the material I’m learning at McGill on how to help manage chronic pain cases; not just for nerve pain but also how gently working the plexus and nerves can help stimulate healing of connective tissue problems (muscles and tendons innervated by these nerves) which can act as a complement to physiotherapy and exercise protocols in some complex pain cases.
Nerves of the Brachial Plexus:
The Nerves of the Brachial Plexus pass very narrowly through the Scalene and Sternocleidomastoid (SCM) Muscles shown below:
As you can see from the picture above (and this image of the brachial plexus is incomplete of all the nerve branches and nerve roots) the nerves pass very narrowly through many of our upper cervical muscles (pictured below), specifically the scalene muscles, which help with breathing and are often tight. Tight upper cervical muscles, Poor neck posture? This is for you; your nerves will thank you.
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