CONDITIONS • WESTMINSTER, ARVADA, BROOMFIELD, THORTON & DENVER METRO
Pinched Nerve Treatment in Westminster, CO
A pinched nerve is rarely pinched in just one place. That is the single most important thing most patients never learn — and it is why so many treatments provide only partial or temporary relief.
The shooting pain, electric sensation, or deep aching that travels from your neck or back into an arm or leg is one of the most disruptive pain experiences there is. It is also one of the most treatable — when the full picture of what is happening is properly understood and addressed.
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WE UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE GOING THROUGH
There is nothing quite like nerve pain. It is electric, unpredictable, and sometimes feels completely disconnected from anything you did to deserve it.
It might start with a sneeze that sent a lightning bolt down your arm. Or it built slowly over weeks — a deepening ache in the neck, a tingling in the fingers that you tried to ignore, and then one morning you woke up and could barely lift your arm. Or it is the burning, shooting pain down the back of your leg that makes sitting through a meeting feel impossible. Nerve pain is exhausting because it never fully lets you rest. It is there whether you are moving or still. It affects your sleep, your concentration, your mood, and your confidence in your own body. You have probably been told to rest, take anti-inflammatories, and wait it out. Or you have been handed an MRI and told the disc is the problem. We want to show you why that is rarely the complete picture — and what changes when the full picture is addressed.
WHAT YOU MAY BE EXPERIENCING
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A sharp, shooting, burning, or electric sensation that travels from the neck into the arm or from the back into the leg
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Numbness, tingling, or a pins-and-needles feeling in the hand, fingers, foot, or toes
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Weakness in the arm, hand, leg, or foot — muscles that feel like they are not firing correctly
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Pain that worsens dramatically with coughing, sneezing, or straining
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Symptoms that follow a specific path into the limb — the same route every time
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A deep, constant aching alongside the sharper symptomatic episodes
IF THIS SOUNDS FAMILIAR
You have probably been told you have a pinched nerve from a herniated disc or arthritis in the spine. An MRI may have identified the problem. You have been given anti-inflammatories, possibly a steroid injection, and maybe sent to physical therapy. Some things helped partially. The symptoms returned or never fully resolved.
What you almost certainly have not been told is that a nerve can be irritated and compressed at multiple points along its path simultaneously — and that the disc on your MRI may be only one of several places where compression is occurring.
WHAT YOU PROBABLY HAVEN'T BEEN TOLD
A nerve is not just a wire between two points. It is a living structure that can be irritated anywhere along its path — and most patients are only ever evaluated at one location.
Think of a garden hose. If you step on it in two places, the water pressure drops far more severely than if you step on it once. The same principle applies to nerves. When a nerve is compressed or irritated at one point along its journey, it becomes weaker and more vulnerable to symptoms at every other point. A mild disc bulge at the spine, combined with tight muscles compressing the nerve further down the arm or leg, can together produce severe symptoms that neither compression alone would cause. This concept is called double crush syndrome, and it explains why so many patients continue to have symptoms after treatment that successfully addressed one compression point while leaving the others untouched.
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO UNDERSTAND ABOUT YOUR PINCHED NERVE — AND WHY IT EXPLAINS SO MUCH
Every nerve in your body needs two things to function correctly: good blood flow and unobstructed electrical signaling. When a nerve is compressed anywhere along its path, both of these are disrupted. The nerve becomes swollen and irritable. It fires more easily than it should, which is why you feel pain, tingling, or burning with stimuli that should not cause those sensations. And here is the part most people never hear: a nerve that is already irritated at one location becomes dramatically more sensitive to any additional irritation further along its course. This is not theoretical — it is well-documented in the research literature on nerve function. It is the reason treating only the spine while tight muscles, poor posture, and joint restrictions continue to compress the nerve further along its path produces results that are partial at best.
It also explains something that confuses many patients: why their symptoms sometimes seem out of proportion to what the MRI shows. A relatively minor disc change on imaging can produce severe symptoms when the nerve is already compromised at one or two other points along its path. The MRI found one contributor. It did not find all of them.
The nerves in the neck
Cervical nerve roots exit the spine and travel through the neck, past the shoulder, down the arm, and into the hand. Along this path they pass through the space between the collarbone and first rib, through the armpit, and past the muscles of the upper arm and forearm. Restriction at any of these points — from a disc in the spine, tight neck muscles, a compressed first rib, or tight forearm muscles — can produce arm symptoms. Treating only the spine while these other sites continue is why cervical pinched nerve symptoms so often persist through multiple rounds of care.
The specific fingers that are numb tell a great deal about which nerve root and which compression site is involved. This is one of the most useful diagnostic clues in upper extremity nerve pain.
The nerves in the lower back
Lumbar nerve roots exit the spine and travel through the pelvis, past the piriformis muscle in the glute, down the back or front of the thigh, and into the foot. The sciatic nerve is the most well-known example, but lumbar nerve compression can produce symptoms at the front of the thigh, the inner calf, the top of the foot, or the sole. A disc in the lower back, combined with a tight piriformis muscle in the glute and a restricted sacroiliac joint, can all compress the same nerve — and all need to be addressed for the symptoms to fully resolve.
Where the pain or numbness is felt in the leg is a map of which nerve root is involved. That map guides exactly where treatment needs to be directed.
Chemical irritation — the other half of nerve pain
Most people think a pinched nerve means the nerve is being physically squeezed. That is true — but it is not the whole story. When a disc herniates, the material inside it leaks out, and that material is chemically inflammatory. It produces an intense local reaction on the nearby nerve root that is independent of any mechanical pressure. This is why nerve pain from a disc can be so severe even when the disc is not pressing hard on the nerve — and why managing the chemical inflammation, not just the physical compression, is a critical part of treatment that is frequently overlooked.
Reducing systemic inflammation through naturopathic medicine directly reduces the chemical irritation feeding the nerve's hypersensitivity.
What complete assessment of a pinched nerve actually looks like
A thorough assessment traces the affected nerve from its origin at the spine all the way to its destination in the hand or foot. Every structure the nerve passes through along that path is evaluated for compression or irritation. The cervical or lumbar spine, the muscles and joints adjacent to the spine, the structures in the shoulder or pelvis, and the soft tissues of the arm or leg are all assessed as potential contributors. This is a fundamentally different approach from evaluating only the spine and concluding the disc must be responsible for everything. It is also the approach that produces lasting outcomes for patients who have been partially treated for years.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR PAIN
Why pinched nerve symptoms look so different from person to person
Which nerve is affected, where along its path the primary compression is occurring, how long the nerve has been irritated, and how the body's internal environment is responding to the irritation all determine the specific pattern of symptoms and the most appropriate treatment approach.
Acute nerve root compression
WHAT HAPPENING
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A sudden disc herniation or acute joint restriction compressing a nerve root at the spine
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Chemical inflammation from disc material leaking onto the nerve root
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Intense protective muscle spasm around the injured segment
WHAT IT FEELS LIKE
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Severe, often sudden-onset symptoms that may have come on overnight or after a specific movement
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Electric or searing pain following a specific path into the arm or leg
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Dramatically worsened by coughing, sneezing, or certain positions
Subacute and multi-site compression
WHAT'S HAPPENING
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The initial compression at the spine is being compounded by additional compression further along the nerve's path — the double crush pattern
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Tight muscles, joint restrictions, or postural problems are adding to the nerve's total load beyond the spinal level
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The nerve is now sensitized and hyperreactive along its entire course
WHAT IT FEELS LIKE
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Symptoms that improved with initial treatment but never fully resolved
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Pain or numbness that seems to shift locations along the limb over time
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Persistent arm or leg symptoms despite improvement in the back or neck itself
Chronic and sensitized nerve pain
WHAT'S HAPPENING
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The nerve has been irritated for long enough that it has become hyperreactive on its own, independent of how much compression remains
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The spinal cord has learned to amplify signals from the affected nerve — a process called central sensitization
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Systemic inflammation is keeping the nerve chemically irritated even when mechanical compression has been reduced
WHAT IT FEELS LIKE
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Constant burning or aching that is present even at rest
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Symptoms that worsen with stress, poor sleep, or systemic inflammation
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Pain that persists even after the original structural problem has improved on imaging
Why the stage and pattern of compression determines the treatment approach
Acute nerve root compression needs aggressive decompression, inflammation management, and nerve mobility work to restore the nerve's ability to glide freely through its surrounding tissues. Multi-site compression needs every compression point identified and treated simultaneously — treating only the spine while the other sites continue will produce incomplete results. Chronic sensitized nerve pain requires all of that plus central nervous system regulation and biochemical support, because the nerve itself and the brain's response to it have both become part of the problem. Each stage requires a meaningfully different treatment emphasis, and confusing them is one of the primary reasons nerve pain becomes a long-term condition.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
What you've probably already tried
Most people with a pinched nerve have followed a similar path: imaging, a diagnosis, a treatment that helped partially, and a return of symptoms when they resumed normal activity. Each treatment addressed one compression point while the others continued undisturbed.
TREATMENTS PEOPLE TYPICALLY TRY
✓ Rest and activity modification
✓ Anti-inflammatory medication
✓ Epidural steroid injection
✓ Physical therapy targeting the spine
✓ Chiropractic adjustments to the affected spinal level
✓ Surgery to remove the disc or decompress the nerve at the spine
All of these are directed at one location: the spine. None of them assess or treat the other points along the nerve's path that may be compressing it, nor do they address the internal biochemical environment that is keeping the nerve chemically irritated.
THE GAP NO ONE HAS FILLED
You had the imaging. A disc or arthritic change was found. Treatment was applied at the spine — perhaps an injection, perhaps chiropractic care, perhaps surgery. Something improved. But the arm or leg symptoms remained, or returned. And you are now told this is the best outcome you can expect, or that the next step is more invasive.
"The injection helped my back but my arm is still numb. The surgery fixed the disc but I still have the leg pain. Why is there still a symptom if the cause was fixed?"
Because the disc was one cause among several, and the others were never assessed. The tight piriformis that was also compressing the sciatic nerve. The scalene muscles in the neck compressing the brachial plexus on its way to the arm. The nerve's own sensitization that has persisted independently of the structural compression. These are all addressable. They are simply not being addressed.
OUR FRAMEWORK
What's actually driving your pinched nerve symptoms
Pinched nerve pain is almost never caused by a single compression site alone. The mechanical path the nerve travels, the nervous system's own sensitization to prolonged irritation, and the biochemical environment that either accelerates or impairs nerve recovery all contribute. Addressing all three is what produces lasting outcomes rather than a partial improvement followed by the same cycle.
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The Physical System
Every point along the nerve's path from the spine to the hand or foot — because any of them can be contributing
What goes wrong
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A disc herniation or arthritic bone growth narrows the space where the nerve exits the spine, compressing it at its root
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Tight muscles further along the nerve's path — the scalenes in the neck, the piriformis in the glute, the pronator teres in the forearm — add their own compression to an already irritated nerve
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Joint restrictions along the path reduce the space available for the nerve to glide and change the mechanical forces acting on it
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The nerve itself loses its ability to slide freely through the surrounding tissues — a condition called neural tension — which generates symptoms during movements that stretch the nerve's path
Why multiple sites matter
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Imagine squeezing a garden hose at one point — the flow reduces but does not stop. Squeeze it at two points and the effect is much greater than either squeeze alone. The same is true of nerve compression. Two modest compressions together produce far more severe symptoms than one moderate compression on its own.
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This is why symptoms can seem disproportionate to what the MRI shows — the imaging found one compression site, not all of them
Treating one compression point while the others continue is like unclamping one hand from the garden hose while keeping the other hand clamped tight.
What this means
Assessment must trace the nerve from the spine to the fingertips or toes. The spine, the muscles and joints adjacent to the spine, the structures of the shoulder or pelvis, and the soft tissues of the arm or leg all need to be evaluated for their contribution. Chiropractic care restores mobility to the restricted joints along the path. Dry needling releases the tight muscles compressing the nerve at each site. Nerve gliding exercises restore the nerve's ability to slide freely through its surrounding tissues, reducing the tension that builds with movement. All of these applied simultaneously is what produces outcomes that individual spine-only treatment cannot match.
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The Nervous System
Why symptoms can persist or worsen even after the structural compression has been reduced — and what to do about it
What goes wrong
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When a nerve has been compressed and irritated for weeks or months, it becomes hypersensitive. Think of it like a bruised limb that is tender to even light touch long after the initial injury. The nerve has been bombarding the spinal cord with pain signals for so long that the spinal cord starts to amplify those signals — producing more pain than the current level of compression would justify.
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This sensitization means that even minor movements, light touch, or mild compression can trigger significant symptoms. The nerve is now partly firing on its own, not just in response to compression.
This is why pain that seems out of proportion to imaging findings is not imagined. The sensitization is a real physiological change — it just does not show up on an MRI.
What this feels like
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Burning or electric pain that is present at rest and not only with movement or compression
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Symptoms that flare with stress, fatigue, or poor sleep — situations that should not change a purely mechanical pain
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Symptoms that persist or even intensify after a procedure that should have reduced the compression
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A sense of the nerve being constantly "on" — a burning hum that never fully quiets
What this means
When nerve sensitization is present, structural decompression alone will not fully resolve the symptoms. The nervous system itself needs to be calmed. Chiropractic care that normalizes joint motion along the nerve's path sends calming signals back into the spinal cord, directly reducing the sensitization over time. Constitutional hydrotherapy and autonomic regulation techniques reduce the sympathetic nervous system activity that amplifies the sensitized nerve's output. And reducing systemic inflammation lowers the chemical environment that is keeping the nerve reactive. All three are required when sensitization has developed.
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The Biochemical System
The internal environment that determines whether the nerve can recover — or remains chemically irritated regardless of what happens structurally
What Goes Wrong
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When disc material herniates, it releases chemicals that are directly inflammatory to the nearby nerve. These chemicals can keep the nerve angry and reactive long after the disc's position has stabilized — this is called chemical radiculopathy, and it responds to reducing systemic inflammation, not to further structural treatment
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Nutritional deficiencies in B vitamins — particularly B12 — directly impair the nerve's ability to repair its own insulating coating (the myelin sheath), which is what allows it to conduct electrical signals cleanly
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Elevated blood sugar from poor diet or insulin resistance creates a chemical environment that damages nerves over time — a process called glycation — and is a major driver of chronic nerve pain that is almost never assessed in standard pinched nerve workups
What this feels like
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Symptoms that vary with diet, stress levels, or periods of illness in a way that seems unrelated to anything mechanical
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A burning quality to the nerve pain — particularly at night — which is a common presentation of B12-related nerve impairment
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Very slow nerve recovery after an acute event, even when structural decompression was achieved
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A history of diabetes, pre-diabetes, or metabolic syndrome alongside the nerve pain — any of which significantly worsens nerve recovery capacity
What this means
The biochemical environment of the nerve is a direct clinical factor in pinched nerve recovery. Assessing B12 status, systemic inflammation, blood sugar regulation, and the chemical irritation from disc material is an essential part of a complete evaluation. For patients who have had appropriate structural treatment without full recovery, this is frequently the missing piece. Naturopathic medicine allows us to identify and correct these internal factors, giving the nerve the conditions it needs to actually repair itself rather than continuing to function in a hostile biochemical environment.
OUR APPROACH
How we treat a pinched nerve differently
We trace the nerve from the spine to its destination in the hand or foot, identify every compression point contributing to the symptoms, and address all of them simultaneously while also calming the sensitized nervous system and optimizing the internal environment for nerve repair. This is a fundamentally different approach from evaluating only the spine and treating only the most obvious finding.
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Decompress the nerve at every point along its path — not just the spine
The disc, the adjacent joints, the muscles along the nerve's course, and the nerve's own mobility all need to be addressed together.
Restore mobility to the restricted vertebral joints at and around the compression site, reducing direct nerve root pressure and improving the mechanical space available for the nerve to exit the spine
Release every muscle along the nerve's path that is contributing compressive load — the scalenes, piriformis, pronator teres, or any other structure compressing the nerve at a secondary site
Reduce the protective muscle guarding around the spine and along the nerve's course that is maintaining mechanical pressure and preventing normal tissue mobility
Nerve gliding exercises that restore the nerve's ability to slide freely through the surrounding tissues, reducing the neural tension that produces symptoms with movement, and correcting the postural mechanics contributing to compression
WHAT THIS CORRECTS
Spinal joint compression · Multi-site muscle compression · Neural tension · Nerve glide mechanics
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Calm the sensitized nerve and restore normal pain processing
When the nerve has been irritated long enough to become hypersensitive, structural decompression alone will not resolve all of the symptoms. The nerve's own reactivity needs direct treatment.
Consistent joint mobilization along the nerve's path sends calming sensory signals into the spinal cord, directly reducing the central sensitization that is amplifying the nerve's output
Cold Laser Therapy
Photobiomodulation applied along the nerve's course to energize repair cells, reduce local inflammatory mediators, and accelerate the nerve's recovery from the sensitization cycle
Constitutional Hydrotherapy
Regulate the autonomic nervous system to shift the body out of a state of heightened stress reactivity, directly reducing the sympathetic activation that amplifies sensitized nerve pain
Graded movement and progressive nerve loading to rebuild the nerve's tolerance for normal activity without triggering sensitized pain responses
WHAT THIS CORRECTS
Nerve sensitization · Central amplification · Autonomic reactivity · Nerve recovery capacity
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Optimize the internal biochemical environment for nerve repair
The nerve cannot repair itself in a body where inflammation, nutritional deficits, and blood sugar dysregulation are maintaining the chemical damage from the inside.
Identify and treat the chemical irritation from disc material, systemic inflammation, B vitamin status, blood sugar regulation, and any other internal factors keeping the nerve in a reactive state independent of structural compression
Assess B12, folate, inflammatory markers, blood sugar and insulin function, and any other biochemical factors that affect nerve health and recovery — tests that are never ordered in standard nerve pain workups
Reduce systemic inflammation, support cellular energy production in the nerve tissue, and improve the circulation to compressed nerve regions that repair depends on
B12, B6, alpha lipoic acid, and anti-inflammatory protocols that directly support nerve myelin repair and reduce the chemical irritation driving ongoing symptoms
WHAT THIS CORRECTS
Chemical nerve irritation · B vitamin nerve support · Blood sugar dysregulation · Systemic inflammation
WHY THIS APPROACH WORKS
We treat the full nerve, not just where your imaging pointed
Your nerve travels three feet from your spine to your fingertips or toes. It can be irritated at multiple points along that entire distance — and the combination of those irritations is what produces the severity of symptoms you feel. Your MRI identified one point. Standard treatment addressed one point. The others continued. This is why you are still here with ongoing symptoms despite having followed every recommendation made to you.
✓ Every compression point from the spine to the hand or foot
✓ The nerve's own sensitization that is maintaining symptoms beyond the structural compression
✓ The biochemical environment that is either supporting or blocking the nerve's repair
A pinched nerve is not one problem in one place. Treating it that way is why nerve pain becomes chronic. Treating all of it is why it resolves.
WHO THIS IS FOR
This approach is for people whose nerve pain...
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Started recently and they want to resolve it fully and avoid the progression toward surgery
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Persisted or returned after injections, chiropractic care, or physical therapy directed only at the spine
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Involves arm or leg symptoms that outlasted the back or neck pain that presumably caused them
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Seems disproportionate to the imaging findings — more severe than the structural findings would predict
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Has been recommended for surgery and wants a thorough, non-surgical evaluation of the complete nerve pathway and all contributing factors before committing to a procedure
TAKE THE NEXT STEP
A pinched nerve is not one problem in one place. We treat all of it.
We assess the full nerve pathway, identify every compression point, calm the sensitization, and support the biochemistry of nerve repair.
Not sure where to begin? Give us a call and we'll help you choose the best first step.