What Do Masks and Nerves Have in Common?

We’ve all got used to a life wearing masks, but despite the benefits, there are obvious downsides. 

Talking to a patient lying face down has always required bat-like ears. Throw a mask into the equation and it can be a big challenge.

I could go off on a tangent on the things I’ve misheard but that’s not the purpose of this article.

So how do you link masks to nerves?

Like talking, nerves are used for communicating and they communicate billions of messages from the brain to the body and back again.

When you move your arm, it’s your brain sending messages to the muscles and joints of your arm to move through your nerves. It’s the same for your digestion. When you have a memory, that’s nerves firing off.

We see a lot of patients with all sorts of symptoms. Most of them have some form of nerve irritation or a ‘trapped nerve’.

When a nerve is irritated it interferes with how the nerve is working. And that affects the way the brain and the body can talk to each other. A decrease in communication is like talking to someone with a mask on, or bad phone signal whilst on a phone call. 

The body’s way to tell you there is a problem is to give you pain. Pain is a warning signal from the brain that something is not right.

What does a trapped nerve feel like? 

As the trapped nerve gets affected more, the pain often travels along the path of the nerve, like sciatica or headaches. As it increases further it can cause pins and needles and even numbness.

How do you know if you have a trapped nerve? 

If you have any of these symptoms then please feel free to get in touch so we can diagnose the issue. It might not be as simple as taking off a mask but we’re very good a freeing up unhappy nerves