Maintenance for your Spine equals Maintenance for your Brain

March 31, 2016

Once you're experiencing pain, it's too late. By that I don't mean that it's not treatable, but I do mean that your system has already been compensating for some time. Unless you have recently injured yourself, your issue has most likely developed over time from chronic strain due to posture, sleeping positions, habits, work ergonomics, weekend activities and so forth. If you're like me, you like to work hard and play hard. Just like a weekend outing to northern or western Maine necessitates a car wash or a hot shower, I can't expect my body to sustain constant exertion and strain without putting it through the "biomechanical car wash." 

This is most important, because spinal and extremity mobility are necessary for proper brain health and activation. They accomplish this as they are made of trillions of little sensors or receptors that are activated during movement, stretch, compression, pain et cetera. These sensors transmit information to the brain to activate metabolic function. Movement and brain activity are in a symbiotic relationship, which means that they rely on one another. Chronic pain will create negative changes in the gray matter of our brain like you wouldn't believe, or may not want to believe. The gray matter of our brain is where our cell bodies reside, the areas that link together to control every aspect our being to send messages to organs and soft tissue throughout our body, utilizing the white matter tracts. This is why you see people become depressed/anxious who have experienced chronic pain, chronic vertigo, chronic stiffness, et cetera.

What about us who haven't had our pain for that long? Are we changing our brain? The answer is simple, you sure are! The brain is constantly remodeling to fit our needs and compensating for our dysfunction. Think about all that extra energy that goes on just to keep you standing up straight, let alone if you are giving it the wrong messages that necessitates constant attention and alterations! Your brain would tell you that it is downright exhausting!! 

There is more to this story, but for now, understand that if you want to be good to your brain, be good to your body, and to do that, keep your alignment and mobility maintained through Chiropractic, Physical Therapy, Acupuncture, Massage, Exercise and Eating Healthy. You're only given one vessel, how will you treat it? 

At Portland Chiropractic Neurology, we believe in treating the brain and body together in a comprehensive system of Neurology, Chiropractic, Physical Therapy and Nutrition. The level of treatments is determined by the level of your complexity. Our goal is to restore our patients to optimal health, giving them the ability to determine how they may want to maintain that. We partner with Portland Physical Therapy to aid us in our attempt to give our patients the utmost potential for achieving their healthcare goals.