171 | Breaking Down the Neuroscience of Pain, Trigger Points and Manual Therapy with Dr. Alex Anderson
Welcome to Episode 171 of The Optimal Body Podcast
Breaking Down the Neuroscience of Pain, Trigger Points and Manual Therapy with Dr. Alex Anderson
Dealing with recurrent, current chronic pain? Is pain all in the mind? Wondering how different techniques are helping your pain? We have Dr. Alex Anderson, Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Orthopaedic Physical Therapy, on to break down the shifts in pain science and why pain is important. Using the biopsychosocial model, Dr. Alex addresses pain through a biomedical perspective, and how psychosocial factors can affect pain perception too. Then, she dives into chronic pain and how pain is interpreted in the brain through inputs of threat stimuli. Discussing chronic pain modulation, she dives into the physiology of Fibromyalgia and how plasticity in the brain makes pain plastic too! Finally, she provides insight into how manual therapy techniques modulate pain, specifically looking at joint mobilizations, trigger points, and dry needling. Let(s dive into the science of pain!
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What you will learn in this interview with Dr. Alex Anderson
4:07 – Consent on pain education
6:23 – Shifts in pain science & do we need to get rid of pain?
9:51 – Contributors to pain
12:35 – How the Central Nervous System works
14:46 – Brain & Physiology of Chronic Pain
18:54 – Fibromyalgia
20:21 – Plasticity of pain
23:39 – How do manual therapy techniques and tools help pain?
26:30 – What is manual therapy doing physiologically in the body?
32:18 – What are Joint Mobilizations?
33:47 – Dry Needling
39:27 – How do trigger points form?
43:03 – How does acupuncture differ from dry needling?
45:00 – How Dr. Alex is exploring her pain
49:58 – Learn more with Dr. Alex
About Dr. Alex Anderson
Alex Anderson PT, DPT is a Board-Certified Clinical Specialist in Orthopaedic Physical Therapy with over 6 years of clinical experience, treating in both private-practice and outpatient hospital-based settings. Graduating from Loma Linda University in southern California, Alex moved back East where she worked in Washington, DC for 2 years. She then relocated to Chicago, IL where she completed a Fellowship in Orthopaedic Manual Physical Therapy at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Furthermore, she holds a certification as a myofascial trigger point therapist. Currently, Alex works full-time at the University of Illinois at Chicago and is the founder of her own private practice, The Physical Therapy Academy. Outside of clinical work, Alex enjoys assisting in lab instruction for PT and medical students at UIC, as well as assisting in Northwestern’s fellowship program.
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