Is Your Nervous System Contributing to Your Pain?

​Pain is something that everyone can experience at some point in their life. However, for some people pain can be a chronic, daily occurrence which can be quite distracting and impact our ability to live our lives to the fullest. When this happens, we want to ask the question “Why?”.
 
Yes, injuries can occur, and other mechanical dysfunctions can arise, but our bodies are designed to heal themselves. When a failure to adequately heal happens, it is important to look deeper and understand what is impacting our ability to heal and live pain free.
 
Nervous system dysfunction can look like poor sleep, poor digestion, feeling “puffy” or inflamed, hair loss, skin conditions, having a “short fuse”, and so much more!
 
Nervous system regulation is crucial to our body’s function on a physical, chemical, and emotional level. If we have triggers in any of these factors, our nervous system can be dysregulated, and the dysfunction can present itself in many ways – quite commonly being pain.
 
The good news that Chiropractic care and spinal manipulation regulate the autonomic nervous system. Studies have shown that spinal manipulation may activate the parasympathetic system to counterbalance the activity of the sympathetic system. This means that chiropractic care can help bring balance back to your body. Adjustments help keep the spinal cord healthy and several studies have suggested that a link exists between spinal manual therapy and spinal cord neuroplasticity (1).
 
Chiropractic works on the nervous system, stimulating it to release various chemicals and hormones that regulate blood pressure and flow, calm the brain, and reduce inflammation, thus having a direct effect on how we feel physically. (1)
 
Other studies have shown that in chronic pain states, the autonomic nervous system may be dysregulated. This can present as chronic low back pain, digestion issues, sleep disturbances, and so much more (2). When there is chronic nervous system dysfunction, our body’s ability to heal and thrive is directly affected (2).
 
Chiropractic treatment combined with exercise, a nutritious diet, restful sleep, and self-care can be the first and easiest steps to regulating your nervous system and managing your pain levels. At Sprouting Health, we want to give YOU the power to help heal yourself.
 

References

1. Kiani AK, Maltese PE, Dautaj A, Paolacci S, Kurti D, Picotti PM, Bertelli M. Neurobiological basis of chiropractic manipulative treatment of the spine in the care of major depression. Acta Biomed. 2020 Nov 9;91(13-S):e2020006. doi: 10.23750/abm.v91i13-S.10536. PMID: 33170171; PMCID: PMC8023121. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8023121/

 

1. Yeater TD, Clark DJ, Hoyos L, Valdes-Hernandez PA, Peraza JA, Allen KD, Cruz-Almeida Y. Chronic Pain is Associated With Reduced Sympathetic Nervous System Reactivity During Simple and Complex Walking Tasks: Potential Cerebral Mechanisms. Chronic Stress (Thousand Oaks). 2021 Jul 7;5:24705470211030273. doi: 10.1177/24705470211030273. PMID: 34286166; PMCID: PMC8267022.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8267022/