The brain and the spine. They’re connected. They
are connected more closely than any of us realize
as we go about our daily lives. Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries keeps this connection in
mind as we take care of our Manchester back
pain sufferers’ spines and pay attention to their stories of
pain and ways of coping. Manchester chiropractic care at Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries
respects the brain and spine connection and use gentle, safe
chiropractic services incorporating spinal manipulation to reduce
pain concerning both.
BRAIN CHANGES IN Manchester BACK PAIN
Pain changes the brain. A person in pain feels
it. Special tests today can reveal it. BOLD (blood oxygen level
dependent) responses were analyzed after stimulating lumbar spinous
processes with manipulation and exhibited activity in the
secondary somatosensory cortex, cerebellum and other brain areas. (1) Motor cortex stimulation triggers a spinal
anti-inflammatory response to reduce pain. (2) Depression,
anxiety, cognitive deficits often come with chronic
constriction of the sciatic nerve because of its effect
on the medial prefrontal cortex. (3)
Spinal manipulation may be a means to address the
brain changes in chronic pain and its associated issues.
SHORT TERM STIMULATION’S EFFECT ON BRAIN
Stimulating the brain even for a short time may influence
the pain experience. A new study on Euclidean distance between
cortical sources and temporal dynamics of plastic changes in the somatosensory
cortex of the brain had even your Manchester chiropractor’s head
spinning a bit! What a topic! Without having to understand
all these terms and measurements shared in the study, know that
the study presented that the brain, even the adult brain, is pliable.
Sure, the young developing brain is most impressionable, but with the proper
input, the older, adult brain can transform. The researchers in
this study took measurements
before and after stimulation and compared them on MRI. They saw
a difference. More research should be done, but they did describe
that long term experience establishes cortical organization while
occasional, new and different stimulation can induce
cortical reorganization of the adult brain. Such changes have been noted
in musicians, Braille readers, and persons after spinal manipulation and stroke
rehab. (4) This understanding of the brain
informs the Manchester chiropractic treatment
plan!
BRAIN CHANGES WITH CHRONIC PAIN
Just how is the chiropractic treatment plan influenced by such knowledge of the brain? Let us start
by examining the brain with chronic pain. The two brain regions that encode the
intensity of pain and contribute to the whole
experience of chronic pain are the primary somatosensory cortex and posterior
insular cortex. (5) The cortex of the brain was discovered to be
thinner in chronic low back pain patients. Post-treatment, the
dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is thicker. To the researchers, this implied
that treating chronic pain can reestablish normal
brain functions. (6) Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries takes care of Manchester back pain patients all day long. It’s amazing to think
that treatment might alter more than the pain response
alone!
CONTACT Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries
Listen to this PODCAST
by Dr. James Cox on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he
defines more plainly the brain and spine and pain
connection, illustrates in more depth how the cells of the body
are constantly remodeling and adjusting to
their ever-changing mechanical environment, and how chiropractic may intervene
positively.
Schedule a non-surgical Manchester chiropractic care
appointment with Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries for your pain, brain, and spine! The
connection is there between pain and the brain. Manchester Chiropractic & Sports Injuries can get in the center
of those two and help you get some Manchester pain relief.