The autonomic nervous system --- commonly abbreviated ANS --- governs bodily functions you typically do not think about. Your heartbeat, breathing, digestion and stress response are processes under autonomic control; they happen "automatically." Certain injuries to your brain, spinal cord or body can damage the ANS. Physical movement encourages the connection between mind and body. Physical therapy can improve your musculoskeletal structure and posture, strengthening muscles and potentially improving responses in the autonomic nervous system.
Autonomic Nervous System
Every day, you are exposed to a variety of environmental and internal experiences that elicit reactions from your autonomic nervous system. Impulses from blood vessels, internal organs, sense organs and muscles are sent through nerves to parts of your brain. Though not consciously felt, these impulses elicit reflex responses from your brain, which are appropriately transmitted throughout your body. In this way you are able to adapt and cope with variations in temperature, food ingestion, stressful situations and other changes in your life. The ANS is divided into the parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous systems. Your sympathetic system responds to stress and increased bodily demands, while the parasympathetic is involved in non-emergency, body maintenance functions, the University of Northern Iowa explains.
ANS Injury
As your central nervous system, the brain and spinal cord are vital organs that control most physiological functions. Injuries to either can result in ANS dysfunction and impair multiple aspects of your daily life. Damage to organs, muscles and bones can also affect the nerves that make up your ANS. Known as dysautonomia, the effects can be local -- affecting only one part of the body -- or generalized, reaching several aspects of the ANS. Trouble standing upright, walking or moving limbs as well as blinking, digesting or sweating are possible. Cases can be acute and reversible as well as chronic and progressive. Neurological disorders like Parkinson's disease and common conditions such as diabetes and alcoholism may include dysautonomia.
Physical Therapy Research
Beginning a physical therapy program for your specific dysautonomia case may be beneficial in restoring function and quality of life. Study results published in 2011 in the journal "Clinical Rehabilitation" examined the effects of a long-term exercise program on baroreflex -- sensing blood pressure -- and ANS functions in the cardiovascular system. In addition to increasing oxygen consumption and physical endurance, an exercise program was seen to improve baroreflex sensitivity and effectiveness when compared to controls. Researchers also found significant correlations between the autonomic and cardiorespiratory parameters in the test group.
Physical Therapy and Dysautonomia
The therapy recommended for dyautonomia varies with the degree of injury or neurological disease. Physical and manual therapies can include simple braces -- such as a neck brace for a whiplash or neck injury -- that relieve musculoskeletal stress and promote proper alignment of bones and tissues. Passive or active movements can help spark the connection between muscles and the brain; stabilization and balance exercises increase postural tone that encourage normal, automatic patterns of movement. (ref 6) Conditions that involve organ function are more difficult to manage, and may require assistance from machines. Talk to your doctor about your condition to develop an individualized physical therapy program.
References
- National Dysautonomia Research Foundation; The Autonomic Nervous System; David H.P. Streeten
- University of Northern Iowa: Autonomic Nervous System
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; NINDS Dysautonomia Information Page; June 28, 2011
- "Clinical Rehabiliation"; Effects of long-term exercise training on cardiac baroreflex sensitivity in patients with coronary artery disease: a randomized controlled trial; D. Mameletzi, et al.; March 2011
- Yonemoto Physical Therapy; Coping and the Autonomic Nervous System; July 15, 2008
- "Physical Therapy"; Physical Therapy Management of Familial Dysautonomia; Sandy B. Ganz, et al.; July 1983
