The brain and the spine. They’re connected. They’re connected more closely than any of us appreciate as we go about our daily lives. New Hampshire Spine and Sport keeps this connection top-of-mind as we take care of our Southern New Hampshire back pain sufferers’ spines and pay attention to their stories of pain and ways of coping. Southern New Hampshire chiropractic care at New Hampshire Spine and Sport respects the brain and spine connection and use gentle, safe chiropractic services incorporating spinal manipulation to reduce pain concerning both.
BRAIN CHANGES IN Southern New Hampshire BACK PAIN
Pain changes the brain. A person in pain knows 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 provokes 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 impact 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 Southern New Hampshire chiropractor’s head spinning a little! What a subject! 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 malleable. Sure, the young brain in development is most impressionable, but with the appropriate input, the older, adult brain can transform. The researchers in this study took measurements before and after stimulation and compared their size on MRI. They saw a difference. More research needs to be done, but they did explain 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 discovered in musicians, Braille readers, and persons after spinal manipulation and stroke rehab. (4) This understanding of the brain contributes to the Southern New Hampshire chiropractic treatment plan!
BRAIN CHANGES WITH CHRONIC PAIN
Just how is the chiropractic treatment plan affected with such information of the brain? Let’s start by examining the brain with chronic pain. The two brain regions that encode the intensity of pain and contribute to the overall 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. After treatment, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is thicker. To the researchers, this indicated that treating chronic pain can reestablish normal brain functions. (6) New Hampshire Spine and Sport care for Southern New Hampshire back pain patients all day long. It is amazing to think that treatment might alter more than just the pain response!
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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 continually remodeling and adjusting to their ever-changing mechanical environment, and how chiropractic may help.
Schedule a non-surgical Southern New Hampshire chiropractic care appointment with New Hampshire Spine and Sport for your pain, brain, and spine! The connection is there between pain and the brain. New Hampshire Spine and Sport can get in the center of those two and help you get some Southern New Hampshire pain relief.