The brain and the spine. They are connected. They
are connected more closely than any of us appreciate
as we go about our daily lives. Capitol Spine & Rehabilitation keeps this connection top-of-mind as we treat our Baton Rouge back
pain sufferers’ spines and listen to their stories of
pain and ways of coping. Baton Rouge chiropractic care at Capitol Spine & Rehabilitation
respects the brain and spine connection and use gentle, safe
chiropractic services including spinal manipulation to reduce
pain concerning both.
BRAIN CHANGES IN Baton Rouge 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 examined 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 due to its effect
on the medial prefrontal cortex. (3)
Spinal manipulation may be a way 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 impact
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 Baton Rouge chiropractor’s mind
spinning a little! What a subject! Without having to understand
all these terms and measurements discussed in the study, know that
the study presented that the brain, even the adult brain, is pliable.
Sure, the young brain in
development is most impressionable, but with the appropriate
input, the older, adult brain can change. The researchers in
this study took measurements
before and after stimulation and compared their size on MRI. They saw
a difference. More research should be done, but they did explain
that long term experience establishes cortical organization while
transient, new and different stimulation can induce
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 Baton Rouge 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 looking at the brain with chronic pain. The two brain regions that encode the
intensity of pain and add 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. Post-treatment, the
dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is thicker. To the researchers, this indicated
that treating chronic pain can restore normal
brain functions. (6) Capitol Spine & Rehabilitation treats Baton Rouge back pain patients all day long. It’s amazing to think
that treatment might modify more than the pain response
alone!
CONTACT Capitol Spine & Rehabilitation
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 constantly remodeling and adapting to
their ever-changing mechanical environment, and how chiropractic may help.
Schedule a non-surgical Baton Rouge chiropractic care
appointment with Capitol Spine & Rehabilitation for your pain, brain, and spine! The
connection is there between pain and the brain. Capitol Spine & Rehabilitation can get in the center
of those two and help you get some Baton Rouge pain relief.