Brain scientists who have studied the effects of chiropractic spinal adjustments have discovered that adjustments change brain function. That is, chiropractic has a neural plastic effect on the brain. In particular, adjustments change function in the part of the brain called the pre-frontal cortex. The pre-frontal cortex is actually a part of your brain that is very involved in where pain becomes chronic. This may help to explain the observation that the earlier chiropractic care is undertaken, the better the long term outcomes will be. It might be that chiropractic care can prevent pain from becoming chronic in the first place.

Some 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 the brain. In other words, the feeling of pain that you experience is created by your brain, so where you are experiencing pain may not be where the problem actually is. This is why chiropractors may or may not adjust your spine exactly where you feel that it hurts. They are looking for parts of your spine where there is a lack of proper movement, and will adjust you there. So don’t worry if it is not exactly where you feel the pain is. Your Canberra chiropractor is an expert at finding the parts of your spine that need to be gently adjusted.