How does your neck or back pain affect the brain?

June 10, 2020

The results are quite profound

Receptors (signaling structures) within your joints and muscles that comprise every region of your spine, shoulder, elbow, hip, knee et cetera are primary activators of your brain.  Through various sensory pathways (Dorsal Column Medial Lemniscus, Spinothalamic, spinocerebellar tracts) we send information to our brain that serves as a monitor of position sense (posture), muscles stretching and pain that keep us from falling over, damaging our tissue or altering our brain's spatial oritenation at any given time.  As it is performing this, it is simultaneously activating gene expression within the neurons from the receptor activated along its pathway all the way up to the grey matter within our brain (region that contain's our neuron cell bodies).  As if that wasn't enough, we then process the information that was received (feedback) and send an appropriate signal back down to the region that originally signaled along the corticospinal, vestibulospinal, or reticulospinal pathways to make the necessary shift, utilizing the vestibular system, brain stem, visual system, thalamus, basal ganglia and cortex to glean as much information to perform the best job possible.  In summary, segmental restriction has dire consequences within the circuitry of our nervous system, affecting many systems.  

Neck and back pain are extremely prevalent within our society.  We are becoming increasingly more depenent on computers, handheld devices and other technology that is causing us to be less active or more damaging to our joints, muscles and posture.  This creates inflammatory conditions that can often be prevented by appropriate care to our spine, muscles and posture through general exercise/activity, chiropractic care, physical therapy, massage, personal training and wellness evaluations by your primary care physican who can often point you in the appropriate direction.