Acute pain is a natural physiological response. It alerts us to dangers and prevents us from suffering harm. But when it becomes chronic, pain serves no purpose and can debilitate you from living a full life.

Medication is the most immediate option for managing pain. Physical and psychosocial therapy are the next most popular interventions.

While drugs can be effective in suppressing pain in the short term, they induce unwanted side effects such as dizziness, fatigue, weight gain, and respiratory depression. Meanwhile, physical and psychosocial therapy are not always viable and accessible choices for many individuals.

As such, many researchers are looking into more alternatives for alleviating chronic pain. One interesting possibility they are exploring is the link between sensorimotor integration and pain.

Let’s dive deep into this topic and discuss how to improve your sensorimotor skills and reduce your pain at home.

What is Sensorimotor Integration?

Sensorimotor integration is the process by which the brain processes sensory information to carry out movements. Here’s how it happens:

First, your brain sends out a command to mobilize relevant muscles. At the same time, your brain predicts the outcome of this command. As you execute the movement, your brain gathers information from your sensory organs and uses their feedback to correct errors.

This process happens for every movement that you do. You learn to get better at doing things over time because your brain compares the sensory feedback it gets against its predictions for how the movement will go. It evaluates how successful the movement was and adapts.

How Does Sensorimotor Integration Influence Pain?

Successful sensorimotor integration requires accurate proprioception. This is your ability to sense your body parts’ size, shape, and positioning in space. Without good proprioception, your brain’s prediction of a movement’s outcome will not match up with what will actually happen.

In 1999, Dr. A John Harris theorized that this mismatch between a movement’s prediction and outcome can cause pain, the same way that conflicting inputs from our vision and vestibular systems can cause motion sickness.

Many researchers have refuted his hypothesis in the two decades since he proposed the sensorimotor theory of pathological pain. Various experiments have shown that altering sensory cues to disrupt sensorimotor integration does not cause pain among participants.

However, the theory led researchers to examine the role of sensorimotor integration in the persistence of pain. Upon further investigation, scholars have found that the sensory and motor regions of the brain may be involved in processing pain signals.

Indeed, many studies have observed poor sensorimotor integration among people with chronic pain. This aberration was most prevalent in individuals with:

• Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)
• Fibromyalgia
• Low back pain
• Phantom limb pain

Treatments targeting symptoms of poor sensorimotor integration (motor deficits, sensory changes, and body representation distortions) seem to be effective in alleviating pain. A systematic review partly explains why. It turns out that activating the motor system helps dampen pain symptoms and suppress activity in key pain regions of the brain.

How Can You Improve Your Sensorimotor Integration?

Just like how muscles atrophy when you don’t use them, your senses and motor skills become dull when you don’t mindfully exercise them. You can improve your sensorimotor integration by engaging your senses and becoming more active.

Hobbies that stimulate a variety of your senses and combine them with movement are great for improving your sensorimotor integration. Dancing and playing an instrument are excellent examples. Both involve visual, auditory, and tactile cues and help you practice good body awareness and coordination.

In this article, I recommend ways to awaken your senses and dive deep into the importance of sensory play.

Exercising Your Way to a Pain-Free and Coordinated Body

In addition to relieving chronic pain, good sensorimotor integration leads to improvements in overall well-being. When this integration is running smoothly, you will experience:

• Better balance
• Enhanced proprioception
• Improved posture and gait
• Changes in eye movement

I see these changes all the time among my patients and students. Beyond the physical changes, they experience shifts in their personalities and decision-making. They undertake activities that they never had the courage to do before. They take more risks, feeling bolder in their abilities to overcome them.

The catalyst for this change is Rev6.

I designed this unique training system with the characteristics of the fascia in mind. This ubiquitous connective tissue has millions of sensory nerve endings, making it the largest sensory organ in the body. It also acts as an integrator between your nervous and musculoskeletal systems.

When you have healthier fascia, you are more attuned to your senses, especially your proprioception. The communication between your brain and muscles also becomes faster, and you can recruit the right muscles to execute a movement.

I believe healthy fascia is why so many long-time Rev6 practitioners feel more balanced in their everyday lives. The congruence between their bodies and minds eliminates friction and facilitates a harmonious state of being.

If you want to exercise your way into a pain-free and coordinated body, start your Rev6 journey here.