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How pain in other parts of the body can be caused
by problems in your neck:
The nerves that supply the muscles and the skin in the upper
extremity leave the spinal cord in a complicated network of nerve fibers,
roots and bundles (called the brachial plexus). These nerves course down
the side of the front of the neck and divide, then rejoin to form the
median, radial and ulnar nerves. These nerves travel down the arm in
different distributions to the muscles and provide sensation. The nerve
sends the signal to the muscle telling it to contract, and allows you to
feel sensation where it supplies the skin. If these nerves are compromised
in any way, loss of strength and sensory changes can result.
Compression
Nerves can be "compressed". Compression can be caused by
tight muscles, inflammation of surrounding tissues, or misalignment of the
nerve. When a nerve is compressed, you
feel the sensations somewhere between the point of compression and your
fingertips. Ulnar, radial or median nerve compression can occur anywhere
along the path they travel through, from the neck to the hand.
Shoulder pain can be caused by a nerve
pinched in the neck. Pain in the
forearm, wrist, or fingers can originate from compression at the neck.
That is why, when you have pain in your elbow, wrist or hand, you have to
start looking for the cause at the neck.
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