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Spinal nerve roots far more sensitive than previously thought

Research is proving that the spinal nerves are much more susceptible to mechanical pressure, such as that caused by the' Vertebral Subluxation Complex, than was previously thought. Previous research held that it took pressure between 130 - 1000 millimeters of mercury to affect peripheral nerves to the point where the amount of information transmitted by the nerves is significantly reduced. Researcher Seth Sharpless at the University of Colorado found that spinal nerve roots (where the nerves exit the spine) only took 8 - 10mm of pressure, about the weight of a dime, to reduce nerve transmission. The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics reports in a study by B.L. Rydevik that 5 - 10mm of pressure can interfere with the nutrition of a nerve, starving it of necessary nutrients. M. Hause in Spine reports that pain is not necessarily present with nerve interference. "Nerve Root Compression can exist without pain. Mechanical changes lead to circulatory changes. There may be disturbed cerebro-spinal fluid flow." E.l. Wall reports in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery that stretching a nerve as little as 6% can decrease the strength of the nerve impulse by as much as 70%. Research continues to prove that compression and stretching of a nerve root reduces the amount of impulse that travels across that nerve as well as interfere with the nerve's blood supply causing it to swell.

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