Tag Archives: tingling

The protective mechanisms of the nervous system part 2.

Happy Monday Tribe!

Last week we talked about how the nervous system can trick us through pain, range of motion problems and dysfunction.
We talked mainly last week about the “motor” part of the nervous system, so if you missed it make sure to look back and read up!

This week, we will continue on talking about the sensory part of the nervous system.  This is actually 80% of our nervous system, but most doctors only take care of the 20% motor system.

The sensory part includes numbness in an area, cold/hot sensations, vibration, and proprioception. 

How do we rehabilitate sensation? 

When we start looking at sensation, touch is one of of five senses (seeing, hearing, smelling, taste, touch).
Touch is broken down into pain, temperature, deep touch, light touch, vibration, pressure and proprioception.

Each layer is individually restored.  Each layer adds dimension to our reality experience, our ability to connect with the people and the space around us.  If you have ever had a close experience with a person with a loss of sensation in their body, you can poke them with a needle and they can’t feel a thing, but light touch they can.
It’s like when you get Novocain for a tooth procedure, you feel them tugging around, but can’t feel poking.

One of the most powerful techniques for the nervous system is sensory rehabilitation.  This in traditional neurology is associated with 80% of the NS.

When the senses are disconnected, what do you have left? Death.  If disconnection is death, integration is life. The more we can amplify this communication the more intense, vibrant and passionate our life experience can be.

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What does a sensory nerve problem look like?
Well let’s start with what a motor nerve problem looks like:

A person will say the pain is right “here”, pointing to a specific spot, that’s a physical motor injury.  Also it gets stiff, hard to move.

SENSORY is different.  Someone will say my shoulder or hip hurts and will make a big circle of the entire diffuse location.  The pain will move. It moves around from this energy field. Or, when the “weather shifts” they feel it.  This is a sensory problem.

Let’s talk about the different layers of sensory first. 

I want you to think about putting on socks for a minute.  Putting on one layer of socks that is the PAIN layer.
Another sock- that’s the cold layer
another hot layer
another vibration
another light touch
another deep touch
another pressure
another proprioception- the body’s ability to know where it is space
and finally the last, form recognition layer

Wherever there is a hole in any of those layers you won’t experience that layer.
“Numbness for instances is the NS request for more information.”  Thats why kids bang their heads, they can’t feel their head so they bang on it.  Or someone rubbing their arm thats numb, they want more information.

We have to understand this concept of layering when looking at sensory.  Our NS is completely integrated, we can’t separate them.
Every nerve on your body has the ability to carry all 5 senses.  Thats like saying the telephone wire of your house could plug into your TV, fax machine, television.
If we unplug one is it broken?  no.  It’s just not connecting. Same with the nerve cord.

Anything that is available to that nerve, will allow the rest of the nerve to rehab.

If any one of those nerve functions is available, there is opportunity for rehabilitation. We can’t guarantee but there is opportunity.

But, you’ve probably never heard that option before.

Having an understanding of the nervous system is why its appropriate.

……..

The nervous can also localize sensory issues. For instance, if you injure your arm, it will swell and increase temperature.  But your overall body temperature won’t change, that’s just how intelligent it is.
The same with say a lipoma, thats the NS way of localizing an infection to prevent it from infecting the rest of the body.

For temperature(above example), the body can’t tame that response forever though.  So the temperature will go down. There will then be a constant ache, because it’s not in the right temperature.  That person jumps in the hot tub, and it feels good.  But what if they stay in it too long, it aches again, it went over than 100, then they get out, and it feels good again until it gets to 100, below that it will ache again.  Thats because the NS needs that 100 for healing.

This is why when people feel that pressure change with weather they are feeling that NS threshold. That’s a sensory problem!

Once we correct these nerves though, we can max out what they can do.
Say a person has a pressure sense loss, and you put compression on it, it could actually make it worse.

Same with Ice.  If a person has a loss in that cold sensation. using ice can actually be damaging. It can destroy their nervous system. Which goes against a lot of top athletes who use ice and ice tubs for healing, for certain people it could actually harm your nervous system, and shut it down.

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The great news! Again, where there is nerve supply there is opportunity for healing.

If we create neurological recognition and use light therapy, sensation has the potential to heal and change!
This is just restoring nerve function.

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Not many doctors can do this type of work.  Sensory rehabilitation is something that most doctors say can never regain function.  But as with everything I’m striving and educating in new ways to heal.

MAY IS LYME DISEASE AWARENESS MONTH!!!
As many of you know this disease took away many years of my life, it is SUPER common, and education needs to be understood.  LYME is everywhere, so don’t think it’s not here in California.   Please beware of you, your children and your animals.

 

 

 

That is all for now,

 

Have a happy and healthy week.

 

Dr. Hamel