The brain and the spine. They are connected. They
are connected more intimately than any of us appreciate
as we go about our daily lives. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC keeps this connection in
mind as we treat our La Grande back
pain sufferers’ spines and listen to their stories of
pain and ways of coping. La Grande chiropractic care at Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC
respects the brain and spine connection and implement gentle, safe
chiropractic services including spinal manipulation to reduce
pain concerning both.
BRAIN CHANGES IN La Grande BACK PAIN
Pain changes the brain. A person in pain feels
it. Special tests today can show it. BOLD (blood oxygen level
dependent) responses were examined after stimulating lumbar spinous
processes with manipulation and demonstrated 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 accompany chronic
constriction of the sciatic nerve due to 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 recent study on Euclidean distance between
cortical sources and temporal dynamics of plastic changes in the somatosensory
cortex of the brain had even your La Grande chiropractor’s mind
spinning a little! What a topic! 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 malleable.
Sure, the young brain in
development 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 their size on MRI. They noticed
a difference. More research needs to 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 seen
in musicians, Braille readers, and persons after spinal manipulation and stroke
rehab. (4) This understanding of the brain
contributes to the La Grande chiropractic treatment
plan!
BRAIN CHANGES WITH CHRONIC PAIN
Just how is the chiropractic treatment plan influenced by such information of the brain? Let us 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 shown to be
thinner in chronic low back pain patients. After treatment, the
dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is thicker. To the researchers, this implied
that treating chronic pain can restore normal
brain functions. (6) Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC takes care of La Grande back pain patients all day long. It’s amazing to think
that treatment might modify more than just the pain response!
CONTACT Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC
Listen to this PODCAST
by Dr. James Cox on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he
defines more clearly the brain and spine and pain
connection, illustrates in more depth how the cells of the body
are continually remodeling and adapting to
their always-changing mechanical environment, and how chiropractic may help.
Schedule a non-surgical La Grande chiropractic care
appointment with Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC for your pain, brain, and spine! The
connection is there between pain and the brain. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC can get in the middle
of those two and help you obtain some La Grande pain relief.