My Spine - Cervical
When the nerve, for instance, between the fifth neck vertebra and the sixth
neck vertebra is being pinched, the pain will be experienced at the thumb and
index finger as this is where the nerve ends up. Both the physical compres-
sion of the nerve root and the inflammatory changes in and around the nerve
root are responsible for the pain.
A pinched nerve may require surgery. Although surgery is very effective in
loosening nerves that are being pinched and fixing unstable areas of the spine,
it almost always leads to increased stress on the spine and is believed to speed
up the wear and tear of the spine.
The main aim of treating spinal pain should always be to support the normal
biological recovery processes of the body. Surgery is always the last option
and the aim of surgery would be to relieve the symptoms and to maintain the
normal biomechanical stability of the spine.
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