Falling Apart Doesn't Have To Be Painful
During my weekly scientific literature review (keeping up-to-date is work) I ran across an intriguing reference to a 1980 article. I have seen this article referenced numerous times, so I decided to look it up. It was published in the prestigious Spine Journal, vol. 5, number 2 and written by “pain guru” Gunn (he literally wrote the book on the neurology of pain).
Straight to the juicy parts: Gunn describes how trauma to a healthy nerve is usually painless. But significant problems arise over time. The nerve acquires a quality called “denervation supersensitivity” that modifies the signals your body sends to the brain and scrambles the signals the brain sends to the body. Worse, the presence of pain or the intensity of pain is unrelated to the degree of damage. You could be falling into ruin without even knowing it until massive problems are present.
What it means to you: Painless spinal trauma (like a desk job, sleeping wrong...) causes nerve conduction disruption that can have devastating long-term effects on your glands and organs. Therefore, it is essential to have your spine checked by your chiropractor on a regular basis to correct the problem in order to maintain health, function and wellbeing. And if the spinal trauma actually was painful at the time, run, don’t walk to the chiropractor, because your central nervous system functions are compromised and you are starting to fall apart!
See you soon for your essential-for-a-long-healthy-life check-up.
Dr. Jean-Marc
Prespondylosis and some pain syndromes following denervation supersensitivity. CC Gunn. Spine, vol.2, number 2, March/April 1980
