Learning that you have a pinched nerve or disc bulge can be discouraging. However, there is good news; our bodies are capable of healing these injuries on their own. Nerves can regenerate and discs can reabsorb, if not completely eliminating the pain associated with these injuries that at least minimizing it. In this video I lay out several key strategies to help your body along while it heals.
Controlling Inflammation
Aside from the tradition anti-inflammatory drugs that may be prescribed to you, nutrition plays a significant role in inflammation. Essentially, avoiding refined foods is the best course of action. Recovering from an injury is a big task for your body and nutrition can either help your body heal or get in the way of the healing. So this is the time to take extra care of your body while it works to put things back together. For a more in depth look at nutrition check out some of my other blog posts including What the Hell Can I Eat? and Refined Food and the Overfed State.
Avoid Making Things Worse
In many cases this doesn’t mean stopping activity all together. Generally speaking, this means avoiding activity that irritates the injury. This is the time to back off, there is plenty of time to run marathons and break records when you have healed. For now, keep your workouts on the conservative side. Staying active is generally a good idea but choosing the appropriate activities can be a little trickier. Which brings me to my next tip.
Find a good chiropractor
A qualified chiropractor will help with pain and healing. There a number of different treatment options and figuring out what is best for you will make your body more effective at healing itself. This will likely keep you from making things worse, offer relief from injury-associated pain, and often reveal underlying conditions that could be contributing to the injury. Some of the more common successful therapies are spinal decompression, myofascial release, and sports rehab. Combining these in one location is an excellent option.
Be Consistent With the Therapy
This may be the most common sense tip I can give but it is incredibly important and often times underrated. Spend time everyday doing the stretches or exercises given by your therapist. Your body is trying to heal; the least you can do is take ten minutes out of your day to help out.
Of Course there are more serious cases that may not respond to this more conservative, non-invasive approach. If the pain is unbearable, you notice muscle loss, or the condition seems to be getting worse, then you should consult with a qualified medical professional to see if surgery is the appropriate course of action.
