Call us to set up an appointment! Herndon (703) 561-0600 Ashburn (703) 723-4040

Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn Presents the Influence of the Brain/Spine Connection in Back Pain

The brain and the spine. They are connected. They’re connected more deeply than any of us realize as we go about our daily lives. Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn keeps this connection top-of-mind as we take care of our Ashburn back pain sufferers’ spines and listen to their stories of pain and ways of coping. Ashburn chiropractic care at Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn respects the brain and spine connection and implement gentle, safe chiropractic services incorporating spinal manipulation to ease pain concerning both.

BRAIN CHANGES IN Ashburn 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 parts of the brain. (1) Motor cortex stimulation triggers a spinal anti-inflammatory response to decrease pain. (2) Depression, anxiety, cognitive deficits often accompany 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 deal with 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 new study on Euclidean distance between cortical sources and temporal dynamics of plastic changes in the somatosensory cortex of the brain had even your Ashburn chiropractor’s mind spinning a little! 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 malleable. Certainly, the young developing brain is most malleable, but with the proper input, the older, adult brain can transform. The researchers in this study measured and compared the brain’s cortical size before and after stimulation and compared them on MRI. They noticed 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 knowledge of the brain informs the Ashburn 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 looking at the brain with chronic pain. The two brain regions that encode the intensity of painful stimuli 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 implied that treating chronic pain may well reestablish normal brain functions. (6) Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn takes care of Ashburn back pain patients all day long. It is amazing to imagine that treatment might affect more than the pain response alone!

CONTACT Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn

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, 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 help.

Schedule a non-surgical Ashburn chiropractic care appointment with Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn for your pain, brain, and spine! The connection is there between pain and the brain. Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn can get in the middle of those two and help you get some Ashburn pain relief.

 
Poulin Chiropractic of Herndon and Ashburn shares at the connection between the brain and spine in back pain patients to better help them find pain relief. 
« View All Spine Articles
"This information and website content is not intended to diagnose, guarantee results, or recommend specific treatment or activity. It is designed to educate and inform only. Please consult your physician for a thorough examination leading to a diagnosis and well-planned treatment strategy. See more details on the DISCLAIMER page. Content is reviewed by Dr. James M. Cox I."