🧠 Why Your Brain Might Be Behind Your Back Pain (and What You Can Do About It)
- Julian Simpson
- 12 minutes ago
- 10 min read
🧠 Why Your Brain Might Be Behind Your Back Pain (and What You Can Do About It)
Low back pain (LBP) is one of the most common reasons people visit a chiropractor — and it’s not just about sore muscles or a stiff spine. New research is showing that your brain and nervous system play a major role in how your back functions, recovers, and even why pain keeps coming back.
At Health Wise Chiropractic, we’re fascinated by how movement, muscle control, and brain-body communication all work together — and how we can help restore that balance.
🤸♀️ The Study: What’s Going On Inside Your Back
A recent study looked at people who experience recurrent low back pain — meaning they go through cycles of pain and recovery throughout the year. Researchers discovered that even when these people weren’t in pain, their nervous systems were still working differently from those who had never experienced back pain.
Specifically, the study found that:
People with a history of back pain had delayed activation of key stabilising muscles, like the multifidus and transverse abdominis.
Their bodies relied more on ankle feedback (proprioception) rather than feedback from their lower back muscles when balancing or lifting.
This “retraining” of the nervous system meant their backs were less stable and more prone to fatigue and reinjury — even if they weren’t currently sore.
In other words, once your back has been through pain, your brain might start listening to the wrong signals when it comes to posture and movement control.
🧩 Why This Matters
Your spine relies on tiny stabiliser muscles and accurate sensory feedback to keep you upright, balanced, and pain-free.But when pain lingers or returns, your body starts to compensate — switching from deep stabilising muscles to bigger, surface-level ones.
That might sound like a smart backup plan, but it’s actually a recipe for:
Spinal stiffness
Muscle fatigue
Poor movement control
And ultimately, another round of back pain
It’s not just about strength — it’s about coordination and how your brain maps and controls your movement.
💪 How Chiropractic Can Help Rebuild Your Back’s “Internal GPS”
At Health Wise Chiropractic, we go beyond pain relief. We focus on restoring how your body moves and communicates.
Our care aims to:✅ Improve spinal motion and joint function, so your nervous system gets clear feedback again.✅ Activate deep stabilising muscles like the multifidus and transverse abdominis.✅ Enhance proprioception — your body’s sense of position and balance — so your brain can “relearn” healthy movement patterns.✅ Prevent recurrence, not just manage symptoms.
Through chiropractic adjustments, movement retraining, and proprioceptive exercises, we can help reset your body’s internal map and restore confidence in every movement you make.
🌟 Ready to Break the Cycle?
If you’ve ever felt like your back pain just keeps coming back — even after rest or stretching — this research shows why.It’s not weakness. It’s not bad luck. It’s your nervous system trying to protect you… but sometimes, it needs a little help learning the right way again.
Let’s get your spine, muscles, and brain back in sync.Book your chiropractic assessment today at Health Wise Chiropractic — and start moving with confidence again.
📅 Appointments available this week!👉 Book Now
Low Back Pain Chiropractor
Q: How does chiropractic care help with lower back pain?Chiropractors address spinal misalignments, muscle tension, and posture issues that often cause or worsen back pain.
Q: Is chiropractic safe for chronic back pain?Yes, chiropractic care is a safe and natural approach for managing both acute and chronic back pain without relying solely on medication.
Q: How many sessions will I need for back pain?It depends on the severity. Some patients feel relief in just a few visits, while others need ongoing care.
Q: Can chiropractic prevent future back pain?Yes, with posture correction, strengthening exercises, and regular spinal care, chiropractic can help reduce the risk of recurrence.
For more information about how we can help YOU with your headaches and improve your underlying dysfunction so the problem doesn’t come back .
Please call Health Wise Chiropractic 03 9467 7889 or book online to see one of our Chiropractors in Sunbury or Melton/Strathtulloh Today!
We are also really proud to offer our patients an APP for their Mobile- iPad. With access to your rehab exercises and our health tip blogs with over 600 articles.
Chiropractic has moved online. We offer our online program -STAND CORRECTED- To help you through the day.
We have over 30 programs on different health conditions
Each program contains
- Information about the conditions
- things to do and things to avoid
- nutrition advice
- all the stretches that are needed to help
Suehiro T, Ishida H, Ito T, Kobara K, Osaka H, Oku K, Yakusue A. Altered proprioceptive weighting and trunk muscle activation in individuals with recurrent low back pain: a cross-sectional study. BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2025 Oct 3;26(1):913. doi: 10.1186/s12891-025-09188-5. PMID: 41044591; PMCID: PMC12495647.
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