How Ketamine Eases Pain and Enhances Cognitive Function

Living with chronic pain affects every part of your life. While it understandably impacts your physical health, it also limits your ability to think clearly and focus. For many people, traditional pain treatments don’t provide enough relief, or they come with side effects that are hard to manage. 

That’s why more pain specialists like Bradley A. Silva, MD, are turning to ketamine therapy, a treatment that not only reduces pain but can also improve mood and cognitive function.

Read on as the Lakeshore Pain and Spine Center team explains how ketamine therapy in Kenosha, Wisconsin, can ease your pain and improve cognitive function.

How ketamine works for pain

Not all pain medications have a consistent mechanism of action (i.e., how they work). 

Ketamine is an FDA-approved anesthetic medicine and differs from standard pain medications because it acts on the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors in your brain.

The NMDA receptor is a protein complex in the brain that communicates with nerve cells and is involved in learning, memory, and the feeling of pain.

By impacting these receptors, ketamine helps “reset” how your nervous system processes pain signals, which makes it especially helpful for conditions like neuropathic pain, fibromyalgia, complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), and chronic back or neck pain that hasn’t responded well to other treatments.

How ketamine improves your cognitive function

Chronic pain often leads to mental fog, difficulty concentrating, and even depression. The link between chronic pain and depression is so strong that this type of depression has a name: chronic pain-induced depression. As many as 52% of people who visit pain clinics have chronic pain-induced depression.

Ketamine can help improve your cognitive function in two ways:

It can reduce pain

As ketamine therapy helps manage your pain symptoms, you can get a mental break from living in pain day after day. If your mental symptoms — brain fog, depression, or lack of focus — are related to chronic pain, you should start to feel better (mentally) as your physical pain subsides. 

Managing your pain means that you likely can sleep better at night, and improved sleep can also bolster your mood and cognitive function.

It improves neuroplasticity 

In addition to managing pain, ketamine can also support cognitive function.

The NMDA receptor is a protein complex made of several subunits that fit together to form an ion channel in the membrane of nerve cells. When certain brain chemicals (like glutamate) activate it, the channel opens and allows charged particles (ions such as calcium and sodium) to flow into the cell.

This ion flow helps regulate learning, memory, and pain.

It also promotes synaptic plasticity, a process that’s essential for forming and strengthening memories.

Why consider Ketamine therapy for pain and improved cognitive function?

Unlike opioid-based medications, ketamine doesn’t mask symptoms but also targets your brain’s pain pathways and helps “retrain” your nervous system. Ketamine treatments are provided in a controlled clinical setting here in our Kenosha, Wisconsin, office, and people typically experience rapid relief within hours to days. 

The added benefit of improved mood and sharper thinking makes ketamine a unique and powerful tool for those living with long-term pain.

How to get started with ketamine therapy for pain 

If chronic pain is impacting your physical and mental health, it’s time to consider the benefits of ketamine therapy. You can reach the Lakeshore Pain and Spine Center team at 262-484-4035. You can also click online to schedule a consultation.