Dr. Keelin Regan-Reed, PT, DPT, is often referred to as the "Nerve Whisperer" by her clients and has been called a "Human MRI" by her peers. She is an Orthopedic and Neural Manual Physical Therapist specializing in Neural Manipulation and the published author of Fix It Yourself! A Self Help Guide To Treating Common Muscular Aches And Pains.
Our nervous system, if stretched out, runs a length of 80,000 kilometers (approximately 50,000 miles). At any given time we have over 7 trillion nerves. We are talking about 900 times more than the number of people on Earth. How could your nerve health not affect your entire body? After reading this article, you will better understand the nervous system and its function and fully understand and appreciate the health benefits of Neural Manipulation.
What is neural manipulation, and how can we benefit from it?
“Neural” refers to the nervous system of the body, which includes the Central Nervous System; brain, spinal cord, and Peripheral Nervous System, which includes the cranial and peripheral nerves. This delicate system acts as a massive communication highway throughout the body. When it experiences dysfunction; pain, loss of function, body motion, and organ dysfunction can result. Neural Manipulation identifies local nerve restrictions and fixations as they interact with the rest of the body and tissues. This manual technique re-establishes communication in the body and improves blood and neural circulation to restore optimal health.
Two nervous systems explained
To fully understand and appreciate Neural Manipulation, you must first understand the nervous system and its function. The nervous system is composed of two main systems. The Central Nervous System (CNS) consists of the brain and the spinal cord, and the Peripheral Nervous System (PNF) includes all other nervous structures and tissue. The Peripheral Nervous System connects all tissues and organs with the Central Nervous System.
One component of the Peripheral Nervous System is the spinal nerves. The spinal nerves supply specific areas that involve motor and sensory functions. For example, contracting the biceps muscle in your arm utilizes a nerve that controls its movement, and the feeling of hot, cold, or pain along your forearm comes from the sensory nerves. There are 31 pairs of nerves (exiting your spinal cord on both the left and right side of your vertebrae); 8 cervical, 12 thoracic, 5 lumbar, 5 sacral, and one coccygeal. In addition to your sensory-motor nerves, you also have two other subdivisions of nerves that exit your Central Nervous System. One, is your 12 cranial nerves that form from your brain stem above your cervical vertebra and the second is your autonomic nervous system that forms alongside your thoracic spine.
The three musketeers
A very interesting structural fact about human anatomy is that wherever there is a nerve running through your body you have an artery and vein running next to it. I call this “The Three Musketeers”. This close proximity is important because they branch off and connect to each other to promote tissue circulation. Because of this, nerves play an incredibly important job in communication and circulation between tissue in the body and the brain (Central Nervous System).
So now that we can understand the anatomy of the nervous system and its connection to the vascular system, we can then start to understand if a nerve is compromised in some way and how Neural Manipulation can positively affect our visceral and nervous systems.
Nerve damage or disruption
Nerves run throughout our entire body. There is not a single area of our body that does not have a nerve that supplies it. From our organs like our heart and lungs to our skin and toes.
A nerve can be damaged or disrupted by being compressed, stretched, or torn. This can happen in two main ways. It can be from an external force or injury from the outside world like a motor vehicle accident, surgery, or fall. Or, an internal force like a viral or bacterial infection and swelling of a joint. In both cases, our nerves are compromised and experience a disruption in their circulation and conduction.
Nerves are 80% water that includes electrolytes (sodium, potassium, and magnesium) which helps their conduction. When they are compressed or scared down from an injury or infection, their circulation is disrupted and therefore their function and effectiveness are compromised. Pain and muscular and organ tissue dysfunction can occur. If your electrical system in your house is cut or disrupted in some way the ability to have systems in your house work successfully is compromised. Our bodies work the same way. Neural Manipulation eliminates the fixations, restrictions, and compressions to the nervous tissue in a safe and conservative way. Allowing and profoundly improving the circulation of both the vascular and neural communications that run throughout our entire body affecting our organs, muscles, and sensory systems.
Neural manipulation treatment
Neural Manipulation treatments can include but are not limited to, diagnoses such as; traumatic brain injuries and concussions, joint pain and dysfunctions, neuropathies, radicular nerve pain, nerve palsies, migraines, headaches, side effects from sinus infections, thoracic outlet syndromes, sciatica, vagus dysfunctions such as anxiety and mood disturbances, GI dysfunctions, and a variety of systematic dysfunctions associated with our organs and viscera.
By learning to “feel” and “listen” to the pressure system that surrounds the intricate network of nerves which we call the cranial rhythm, trained clinicians can then manipulate and release nerve fixations and restrictions that surround the nerves and connective tissue.
5 biological responses neural manipulation can functionally improve
1. Blood circulation
Healthy blood circulation requires the continuous movement of blood throughout the body, delivering oxygen and nutrients to the cells and removing waste products. Because nerves create and maintain the highway of communication between all tissue and the brain, its freedom to move and deliver the conduction and signals is essential for the health of the body. Imagine a creek or brook with a beaver dam built in it. The water is disrupted flowing through effectively. By removing the dam you improve the flow of the water. By eliminating the fixation of the nervous (highly vascularized) tissue and its surrounding structures it innervates you improve its conduction, and communication between the tissue and brain.
2. Mental health, concentration, clarity
Have you ever noticed when you take a walk outside on a clear day how you can feel rejuvenated and energized? This is because you have improved the blood circulation throughout your body. Kids at school getting a movement break throughout the day helps with their clarity to focus. By improving the nervous tissue mobility we can enhance this further and create optimal tissue health. Improving the mobility of a nerve from the brain to an organ or muscle tissue creates a clearer highway of information and communication. Your brain and nerves function as a superior operational system.
3. Visceral function
Your organs require a nerve signal from the brain to be directed on what to do and when to do it. For instance, your heart will beat faster or slower depending on what your body is doing. When you start running, your heart receives information from your nerves to increase pumping so that it can deliver more blood to the body and allow it to run faster. Your heart only knows how to do this because of the intricate communication highway system of the nerves. If some of these nerves are compromised from being compressed or strained then the message is not getting through as efficiently. All your organs require a nerve signal to do their job. Neural manipulation can improve the body's efficiency and improve overall health.
4. Biomechanics and alignment
It is our muscles that move our skeleton. Our bones and joints require the strength and function of our muscles to move and stabilize. However, our muscles require a nerve impulse in order to contract and work. Oftentimes, muscles can become too weak if they are not getting a strong signal from a nerve. The opposite is also the case where muscles can get too strong of a signal or a disrupted signal at the wrong time and create a spasm or hypertonic response of the muscle which can elicit pain and dysfunction. Our skeletal alignment depends on the healthy functioning of our muscles in order to maintain proper alignment. If anyone has injured their back they often will complain of their pelvis being “off” or a leg feeling longer on one side. They are experiencing the effects of their skeletal structure being out of alignment. Healthy nervous tissue is essential for the function of our muscles. By receiving healthy unobstructed conduction and communication, our nerves give life to our muscles to maintain their strength and stability.
5. Performance enhancement
Can you touch your toes? Are you someone who has worked on your flexibility for years but has seen little progress? You could have a nerve fixation that is inhibiting your body from lengthening to its potential. Your sciatic nerve is one of the biggest and longest nerves in your body. It starts from deep in your buttocks down the back of your leg and ends at your heel. In order to be able to touch your toes your body requires the sciatic nerve to be able to glide and slide within the muscle tissue of the leg. Injuries to the leg can cause scar tissue and fixations around the sciatic nerve that reduce the movement of the nerve and over time can create pain and dysfunction. Nerve manipulation can release these fixations along the length of the nerve enabling it to move freely around surrounding tissue and improve the mobility of joints and muscles. This can create incredible improvements in your body's performance. For example, improving one's ability to touch their toes can improve not just their flexibility but also the speed at which they can run. A longer stride length requires hamstring flexibility. Therefore improving their speed performance.
Learn more about neural manipulation
Taking all this in at once may be overwhelming. Learning more about Neural Manipulation and its benefits in bite-sized portions is possible through Dr. Keelin Regan-Reed’s social media presence on both Facebook and Instagram. You can also go directly to her website for more information about the technique or to learn more about Dr. Keelin’s experience. The willingness to explore Neural Manipulation can change your life in ways you never thought possible!
Read more from Dr. Keelin Regan-Reed
Dr. Keelin Regan-Reed PT, DPT, Orthopedic and Neural Manual Physical Therapist
Dr. Keelin Regan-Reed PT, DPT, is a licensed manual Doctor of Physical Therapy specializing in Neural Manipulation. She is able to "listen" to the cranial rhythm in the brain and body by following the cerebral spinal fluid flow as it works around the brain and spinal cord to the peripheral nerves throughout the body. Just like a clinician can "feel" for the pulse in your wrist to listen to your blood flow and heartbeat, the fluid of the brain and nerves has a similar "feel" of pressure changes. Our bodies hug around lesions and restrictions, thus changing the rhythm of the fluid. Dr. Keelin can detect this change and follow where the lesion is and make the necessary corrections and/or releases so the body can then heal on its own.
