The brain and the spine. They’re connected. They’re connected more deeply than any of us appreciate
as we go about our daily lives. Executive Chiropractic of Iowa keeps this connection in
mind as we treat our West Des Moines back
pain sufferers’ spines and pay attention to their stories of
pain and ways of coping. West Des Moines chiropractic care at Executive Chiropractic of Iowa
respects the brain and spine connection and implement gentle, safe
chiropractic services including spinal manipulation to reduce
pain concerning both.
BRAIN CHANGES IN West Des Moines BACK PAIN
Pain changes the brain. A person in pain knows
it. Special tests today can show 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 parts of the
brain. (1) Motor cortex stimulation provokes a spinal
anti-inflammatory response to decrease pain. (2) Depression,
anxiety, cognitive deficits often come with chronic
constriction of the sciatic nerve as a result 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 related issues.
SHORT TERM STIMULATION’S EFFECT ON BRAIN
Stimulating the brain even for a short time may influence
the pain experience. A recent study on Euclidean distance between
cortical sources and temporal dynamics of plastic changes in the somatosensory
cortex of the brain had even your West Des Moines chiropractor’s head
spinning a bit! What a topic! Without having to grasp
all these terms and measurements shared in the study, know that
the study presented that the brain, even the adult brain, is impressionable.
Of course, the young developing brain is most impressionable, but with the proper
input, the older, adult brain can change. 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
transient, new and different stimulation can spark
cortical reorganization of the adult brain. Such changes have been seen
in musicians, Braille readers, and persons after spinal manipulation and stroke
rehab. (4) This knowledge of the brain
informs the West Des Moines chiropractic treatment
plan!
BRAIN CHANGES WITH CHRONIC PAIN
Just how is the chiropractic treatment plan influenced by 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 whole
experience of chronic pain are the primary somatosensory cortex and posterior
insular cortex. (5) The cortex of the brain was shown 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 may well restore normal
brain functions. (6) Executive Chiropractic of Iowa care for West Des Moines back pain patients all day long. It’s amazing to think
that treatment might modify more than the pain response
alone!
CONTACT Executive Chiropractic of Iowa
Listen to this PODCAST
by Dr. James Cox on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he
explains more plainly the brain and spine and pain
connection, describes in more depth how the cells of the body
are continually remodeling and adapting to
their ever-changing mechanical environment, and how chiropractic may intervene
positively.
Schedule a non-surgical West Des Moines chiropractic care
appointment with Executive Chiropractic of Iowa for your pain, brain, and spine! The
connection is there between pain and the brain. Executive Chiropractic of Iowa can get in the center
of those two and help you obtain some West Des Moines pain relief.