Ongoing Back Pain is very likely causing you many problems beyond the suffering and losses of ability to enjoy your life.

Chronic pain causes massive suffering that goes beyond what you feel in your body. Read below to find out how it effects your brain.

The following is a brief discussion of important research into chronic pain and some of the ways it changes the nervous system.

Chronic Back Pain Is Associated with Decreased Prefrontal and Thalamic Gray Matter Density

A. Vania Apkarian, Yamaya Sosa, Sreepadma Sonty, Robert M. Levy, R. Norman Harden, Todd B. Parrish and Darren R. Gitelman
Journal of Neuroscience 17 November 2004, 24 (46) 10410-10415; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2541-04.2004

From the study,

"Patients with CBP showed 5-11% less neocortical gray matter volume than control subjects. 

The magnitude of this decrease is equivalent to the gray matter volume lost in 10-20 years of normal aging. 

The decreased volume was related to pain duration, indicating a 1.3 cm3 loss of gray matter for every year of chronic pain. "

So, what researchers found were very significant losses in cortical volume.

The big question you mentioned is why?

Why does chronic pain (back pain in the study referenced above) result in a loss of brain mass? 

The reality is that this will vary somewhat from person to person. 

Here is a VERY important factor that is likely involved in many people with chronic pain…

A loss of movement in the spine resulting in a loss of drive to activate the brain (movement is the primary driver of brain activation, loss of activation from: 

⦁    Mechanical problems and increased muscle tone (tightness) in the spine that cause losses of motion between spinal segments.
⦁    Pain causing reduced activity and therefore losses of 'normal' cortical drive.

A big problem in pain is an imbalance of small nerve fibers (in this case pain) and large nerve fibers (from receptors in muscles, joints, and tendons) result in changes in brain activation. 

This is discussed here related to pain and the 'pain gate.' The blog post discusses how to 'close' the pain gate to reduce pain.

Going back to the imbalance between pain and movement based input to the brain… it sets up a 'vicious cycle' where the brain is losing stimulation that it requires to stay alive and function properly.

These losses result over time result in changes in brain output.

When we're looking at the higher areas of brain, one of the significant outputs is into a part of the brain stem that will reduce or 'turn off' pain.

Losses of cortical output has the probability of causing pain to increase. This is a similar mechanism where people that are depressed will experience more pain.

Losses of activation over time result in neuron cell death (losses of brain mass). 

So one thing we see in chronic pain sufferers is…

1. Pain causes and is caused by losses of spinal motion -> 

2. Causing reduced drive to activate brain -> 

3. Resulting over time in cell death/ loss of brain mass (due to reduced activation -> 

4. Causing losses of pain inhibition (more pain) -> 

5. Pain causes reduced activity/movement -> ever worsening cycle.

There's more to it than this, but this is a very important consideration in chronic pain.

It's also why Chiropractic Care is a critically important part of care for pain sufferers.

Medications can help pain, but do not work through improving the imbalance between the movement based input into the nervous system. 

Over time, there is also a significant risk of side effects with many medications that can easily be discovered by looking at the drug insert side effects or simply checking them out online through reliable outlets.

This is true even of over the counter pain relievers. If you suffer from chronic arthritis pain, you can learn more about what works and what doesn't.

Further, many medications lead to tolerance as a body adapts to the medication and in some cases, addiction – as seen in opiates for example.

If you have chronic pain, it's best to address the cause of the pain rather than simply the symptom of pain itself. 

If you live in the Texarkana area and are experiencing chronic pain, then we invite you to come see us at Hagebusch Chiropractic.

Dr. Hagebusch has helped thousand's of pain sufferers recover from a variety of painful conditions and injuries.

Give us a call at 903-793-1084. We want to help.

Blog posts about how Chiropractic Care can help you and your pain…

• Spinal Manipulation Proves Safe and As Beneficial As Surgery In Lower Back Disc Herniations With Sciatica (Leg Pain)

• Chiropractic Care Helps Acute Lower Back Pain

• Chiropractic Effective for Chronic Neck Pain and Back Pain

• Chiropractic Provides Faster Relief for Lower Back Related Leg Pain

• Chiropractic Helps Disc Herniations With Nerve Problems (Sciatica)

• Can Chiropractic Help Patients With Disc Herniations?

• Opiate (Narcotic) Pain Relievers, Is There An Alternative?

• Do You Suffer From Disc Related Back Pain?

• Arthritis, The Problem and The Solution

• Chiropractic Beats This Popular Anti-Inflammatory For Those With Back Pain