Sometimes pain is simple. Often, though, the spot that hurts is only part of the story. Your nervous system, the way you move, stress, an old injury you’d almost forgotten about… all of it can shape how you experience pain.
Dr. Robert Shire recently sat down with two of his Tru Whole Care colleagues, Dr. Taylor Rahe and Dr. Sneha Gazi, to talk it through. They covered pain, nervous system regulation and why it helps to look at your health from more than one angle.
Looking Beyond Where It Hurts
If you’ve been hurting for months (or longer), the painful area may not be the whole picture.
Your nervous system is constantly taking in information from all over your body and making sense of it. Old injuries can affect how you feel and function. So can the way you tend to move, along with the physical and emotional stress you carry around.
No two patients walk into Dr. Shire’s office with the same problem, and he doesn’t treat them as if they did. That’s a big reason he takes a whole-person approach to chiropractic care. Instead of zeroing in on a single symptom, he looks at how your spine, joints, muscles and nervous system may be working together.
“The goal is to understand the person in front of you—not simply chase the location of their pain,” says Midtown NYC chiropractor Dr. Robert Shire.
Why Nervous System Regulation Matters
Nervous system regulation comes up a lot in the conversation. So what does it actually mean?
Your body adapts all day long to what’s happening around you and inside you. When your nervous system is working well, it can respond to whatever’s being asked of it, then adjust again as those demands change.
The group also gets into neuroplasticity, which is simply the nervous system’s ability to adapt and change, and talks about how patients can take an active part in their own care.
Living with discomfort that just won’t let up? Seeing these connections can give you a different way to think about your health, and about what recovery might look like.
Different Providers, Different Pieces of the Puzzle
Collaboration was the other big thread.
Chiropractors, physical therapists, occupational therapists and other healthcare professionals each bring their own training to the table. Depending on what’s going on with you, more than one approach may help.
Dr. Shire has been part of the multidisciplinary team at Tru Whole Care in Midtown NYC since 2005. He runs his own practice and gives every patient individualized chiropractic care. When it makes sense, he can also talk with the other healthcare professionals there and work together on your care.
That kind of teamwork can be especially valuable during pregnancy and the postpartum months. Your body is changing a lot in a short time, and you may benefit from support from a few different types of providers. Dr. Shire sees many expecting moms and their babies, so this comes up often.
Watch the Full Conversation
Curious how a chiropractor, a PT and an OT each think about pain? The full conversation with Dr. Shire, Dr. Taylor Rahe and Dr. Sneha Gazi is at the top of this post.
And if you’re dealing with pain, or just wondering whether chiropractic care is right for you, contact Dr. Shire’s Midtown NYC chiropractic practice. We’d be happy to set up a visit and talk about what you need.