Why can't my numb feet be cured by stretching my waist for several years? ｜The Hidden Devil - Herniation of Thoracic Intervertebral Disc (1)

The thoracic spine is quite special in the spinal structure:

The somatic nerves extending from the thoracic vertebrae innervate the entire thorax and the inside of the arms.

There are also some movements and sensations of the cervical and lumbar vertebrae,

When the nerve is compressed deep enough to reach the spinal cord,

Then the neurological symptoms down to the toes may be caused by the compression of the thoracic nerve;

Through the " sympathetic nerve junction " on both sides of the thoracic spine,

This is the primary location of the sympathetic nerve,

It can also cause nervousness when stimulated,

" Autonomic problems " that produce sympathetic overexcitation;

Apart from the spine itself,

It is connected with the "rib" outward and forward to the "sternum" in front of the body to form a " thorax ",

It contains two very important organs, the heart and the lungs.

This makes the thoracic spine the most stable spine ,

That's how stable

Hard to break, but hard to fix once broken .

This time, take the thoracic disc herniation as an example.

Share with you a few symptoms of thoracic nerve compression.

First of all, let's take a look at why the numbness of the feet can't be cured by pulling the waist and pulling it for a long time.

Speaking of intervertebral disc herniation, the details of its principle can go back to an earlier article

( Shoulder and neck pain? Crude pain? Arm pain? | You may have a herniated disc! ) ,

The most common reason is actually very good to speculate - bad posture

( The bad posture at home is open to the public! | Learn these knowledge to make your posture no longer troublesome! )

The combo techniques of bowing, hunching, and bending over that modern people often do are the biggest killers of spinal disc herniation.

The second is improper effort when lifting heavy objects,

Especially when it is necessary to pick up heavy objects that cannot be embraced by both hands ,

The thoracic spine is strongly arched, and the shoulder blades are advanced to increase the reach of the arm,

This action, combined with the instantaneous force, has a high probability of causing thoracic disc herniation, resulting in back pain or even low back pain...

You heard right, the source of many people's low back pain actually comes from the "thoracic spine" .

The reason was mentioned before,

Because nerves are "collected" from bottom to top to the brain,

So the closer to the brain the more nerves pass through the vertebral body,

When severe oppression affects a wider range,

Think of it like this:

Although the nerve roots of the cervical spine are only innervated in the upper limbs and part of the thoracic spine,

But in the worst case (directly amputating the spinal cord),

The cervical spine will lose sensation and voluntary movement (almost paralyzed);

The same logic is used in the thoracic spine except for the position dominated by itself,

The motor and sensory nerves of the waist, hips, legs, and feet also pass through the thoracic spine .

Severe enough stress can cause symptoms such as lumbar compression .

Now you can understand why many patients with low back pain can't relieve their symptoms by pulling the waist

(They even think electrotherapy is more effective)

Among them, it is more important to mention that chest tightness and pain around the heart may also be caused by thoracic disc herniation.

These kinds of problems that look a lot like heart disease are often over-stressed when they happen,

There is no problem with the inspection, and I also took a bunch of meaningless drugs...

How to judge then?

Here is a simple evaluation method,

If you have low back pain, chest tightness, heartache...

Try standing upright or sitting upright, then inhale hard and stretch your chest as far as possible ,

At this time, the intrathoracic pressure will increase , which will make the thoracic intervertebral disc that was originally herniated more herniated .

If your symptoms increase significantly at this time,

There are even more symptoms of discomfort in the buttocks or lower,

Then your cause is probably not the lumbar spine but the thoracic spine!

If you are simply sore and numb in the scapula and upper middle back,

In many cases, simply using the above methods will not cause obvious symptoms.

The evaluation method then becomes:

Use the chest to inhale and hold your breath, then hold your chest, and even rotate to the left or down to the right .

At this time, if the back symptoms become severe, it is likely that the thoracic disc is pressing on the nerve.

In addition, the area of pain caused by thoracic nerve compression overlaps with the cervical spine at the 1-6 thoracic vertebrae .

That is to say , symptoms around the scapula may originate from the cervical spine, the thoracic spine, or both ,

The evaluation should be combined with cervical spine test or other more complicated methods to exclude.

Of course, the easiest way is to rotate and bend your cervical spine forward,

Observe whether there is a positive symptom reaction in this part, then add the action of the thoracic spine test, and then...

It is to use similar permutations and combinations to speculate whether the problem is caused by this position,

However, the evaluation of which side, which section, etc. are more detailed still needs to be judged by a physical therapist.

The above methods have also been simplified for the convenience of self-operation.

If you have the above symptoms, the simple assessment also has the possibility of thoracic compression,

You can try to do some living habits and posture adjustments , and you can continue to take care of yourself if the symptoms are gradually relieved.

But if the condition persists for 2-3 weeks without improvement or even worse ,

It is really recommended that you find a professional physical therapist you trust!

Of course, thoracic spine problems are far more than that.

The thoracic spine is quite complex to deal with in physical therapy and often has been implicated elsewhere,

Especially the "sympathetic nerve compression" to be discussed in the next article,

The symptoms produced even make you never think about the thoracic spine,

Therefore, it is very important to learn self-maintenance and training to strengthen the stability and mobility of the thoracic spine.

It will also be mentioned in future articles. If you are interested, don't forget to come back and have a look!

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I'm Baker, I'm a physical therapist, welcome to my country

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Under the current health care system in Taiwan, no matter what the zodiac sign, the therapist will definitely write the word "world-weary" in the personality column.

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Over time, the burning dream fire in my heart gradually went out, and "doing the 'teacher' and walking the meat" became a buff at the meeting before going to work every day . . .

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But in my country, I hope my residents can see the real face of physical therapy and then understand, understand, and even love this profession that is "no less than any other medical technology" and "not just brainless operations" . . .

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