No one likes to be in pain – it is easy to reach for the quickest thing to get rid of that pain, usually pain relief medication. Unfortunately, all this does is mask the pain and gives temporary relief. Even interventions that may relieve pain for longer – massage and other kinds of manual therapy, if they do not address the underlying cause of the pain and merely relieve the symptoms – most prominently pain, the pain may still come back.
It is important to remember that pain can be a good thing – it warns us when there is a problem, but since pain is created in the brain – this can cause problems if the communication between the body and the brain is not working at it’s best, as it won’t know when to “turn off” the pain.
Brain scientists, who have studied the effects of chiropractic spinal adjustments, have discovered that adjustments may change brain function, particularly in the pre-frontal cortex, which is involved in pain becoming chronic.
Neuroscientists believe that chiropractic care most likely helps reduce your feeling of pain by helping your brain ‘turn down’ or ‘switch off ’ the perception of pain in your brain.
As a result, Chiropractors are looking at the function of the spine area where there is lack of proper movement – not necessarily the specific area you are feeling pain.
Remember that the feeling of pain that you experience is created by your brain and does not mean it’s where the problem actually is.
Chiropractic adjustments will help improve your brain/body communication and therefore help your brain to know more accurately what is happening in the body, including the areas that may be causing you pain, and as a result, reduce it.
It is important to remember that all of this may take time – we are improving function, and while the pain may go away it is important to continue to improve and maintain the function of the spine, and therefore your brain/body communication to try stop the brain “turning on” the pain.
REF: Heidi Haavik Research/ www.therealitycheck.co.uk