Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.
Chronic low back pain and chronic pain from any source
severely affects your body in many ways. Biomechanical changes have been known
to occur, but the extent of why it occurs and what other non-mechanical changes
occur are just beginning to show up in the literature. Chronic low back pain
has effects on brain size, nerve sensitivity, and which parts of the brain
perceive and react to pain stimuli. Let’s take a look at what happens to
chronic back pain patients and how chiropractic is the best answer to help
those people return to a more normal life.
Inactivity and sitting lead to chronic back pain(LBP) in
many, many people. It is no wonder, then, that chronic back pain has been
proven to decrease brain size in the prefrontal and thalamic gray matter.
Chronic back pain patients are characterized by alterations in brain structure
and function. The brain changes can be categorized as neurological, structural,
or functional. Certain areas of the brain that show less brain cells are
correlated with more pain intensity and unpleasantness. These brain changes
super sensitize the nerve endings and result in an over-the-top response to any
pain stimulation. So even a small movement or tweak that doesn’t actually cause
any damage results in a surge of pain that the brain perceives as severe. This is why you still need to exercise to
some degree even when you are in pain.