Move Differently. Hurt Less. Here's the Science. Brain and Spine.
If back pain has become your undesirable daily companion, or you're just starting to wonder whether your spine will hold up for life’s adventures ahead, here's some good news: science is getting more and more specific about what actually helps — and it involves your nervous system a lot more than you might expect.
YOUR BRAIN IS PART OF THE PAIN PROBLEM (AND THE SOLUTION)
The research has something valuable to say about this: back pain isn't always solely a structural issue. Much of what you feel is formed by how your nervous system manages pain signals — and that managing can be trained as the 2026 pilot study published in Pain Management by Billens and colleagues points out. Two groups of everyday, non-exercising adults spent 10 weeks working through either a moderate running program or a more arduous strength-based routine. Then researchers gauged how participants' nervous systems were responding to pain. The results? Individual responses suggested reduced pain inhibition following moderate-intensity training and boosted pain inhibition after high-intensity training — meaning the higher-intensity group showed signs that their nervous systems got better at dulling pain signals. Small study, yes, but a persuasive early signal that how hard you exercise may impact how loudly your body transmits pain. (1) We want to remind you that this is new info, and that we support your moving in whatever fashion you choose. Period. Walking is great! Maybe making more intense exercise would be a goal for you…or not! Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC is here to share interesting new info!
NOW, ABOUT YOUR SYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM (YES, THIS GETS INTERESTING!)
Okay, bear with us here — because this part is actually kind of wild. Your sympathetic nervous system is your body's built-in emergency responder — great when you actually need it, exhausting when it never clocks out. Useful when a bear is chasing you. Less useful when it's chronically activated by stress, poor sleep, and an inactive lifestyle. Turns out, animal studies suggest that elevated sympathetic nervous system activity can accelerate bone loss — and researchers suspect the same thing is happening in us. (2) That's the premise behind CHILL BONES — yes, that's the real name of a real clinical trial — described in BMJ Open in 2025 by Collier, Beck, Sabapathy, and Weeks. The trial combines high-intensity resistance and impact training with mind-body exercise (think: tai chi), testing whether calming the nervous system while loading the skeleton makes better bone and spinal outcomes than either approach on its own. Among the outcomes being tracked: lumbar spine bone mineral density. Mind-body exercise may be used to modulate sympathetic activity, which could have an additive benefit for skeletal adaptation when used in conjunction with high-intensity resistance and impact training. It's a trial still in progress, but the science behind it is hard not to find compelling. (2)
SO WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR YOUR BACK?
Taken together, both studies are telling the same story: your spine, your nervous system, and how you move are all tangled up in each other. Pain isn't just mechanical. Bone health isn't just about calcium. And "just rest it" is seldom the answer. Chiropractic care works with that whole system — refining spinal alignment, lowering nervous system irritation, and getting you moving in ways that are actually therapeutic rather than just exhausting.
CONTACT Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC
If your back has been talking to you lately, maybe it's time to listen – to it and to this podcast with Dr. James Cox on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as he describes the benefit of The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management as it affects the nervous system.
And then make your chiropractic appointment with Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC. We'd love to help you get to a place where your spine stops being the loudest thing in the room.
