The Effects of Stress and How Chiropractic Can Help
The Effects of Stress and How Chiropractic Can Help
Millions of Americans feel the negative effects of stress every day. In fact, many Americans suffer from chronic stress. Chronic stress can lead to severe health problems such as insomnia, anxiety, depression, headaches, muscle tension and bowel problems. We perceive stress from three basic sources: our environment, our body and our emotions. Environmental stress includes noise, weather, physical threats, time pressures and performance standards. Body stress includes disease processes, organ malfunction, poor nutrition, poor sleep, and physical injury. Emotional stress is more difficult to define. It encompasses our reactions, in thought and emotion, to environmental and physical stressors. In many ways, however, we are each in control of how much emotional stress we will feel. If you are stressed, it’s important that you do whatever you can to avoid the negative effects.
Thankfully, there are also many ways to help relieve stress. One important way to relieve stress is with chiropractic adjustments.
Benefits of Receiving Chiropractic Adjustments:
- Reduced stress with regular adjustments
- Lower blood pressure with chiropractic adjustments
- Facilitate proper bowel functions
- Relief from pain
It’s been shown that in some cases the chiropractic adjustment presents a cost-effective method of treatment. Since, it’s usually non-invasive and can increase your overall health, making your body better able to fight off other ailments. Often your Chiropractor will suggest lifestyle changes that could include switching to ergonomic furniture and tools such as a Chiroflow water pillow which helps keep your neck in correct alignment while you sleep. In addition to regular chiropractic adjustments it is important to maintain a proper diet and rest. These help keep your body free of physical reactions to stress.
Stress can kill us! Many studies of people who have been subjected to chronic stress have found evidence of the negative health effects of stress. These effects include high blood pressure, damage to muscle tissue, diabetes, infertility, damage to the immune response, and slowed healing from disease and injury. Stress reactions are also at the root of disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder, and stress has been linked in human and animal research with cardiovascular disease. It is vital that we limit and control the stress in our lives. It is important to recognize your body’s reactions to stress and find ways to limit and cope with it.
Chiropractic Treatment and Stress
Chiropractors work primarily with the spine, the root of the nervous system through which nerve impulses travel from the brain to the rest of the body. One effect of chronic stress is prolonged muscle tension and contraction. This muscle tension creates uneven pressures on the bony structures of the body, often leading the misalignment of the spinal column, known as subluxations.
Chronic stress also leads to nerve irritation. The adjustments of a chiropractor release muscle tension, and that helps the body return to a more balanced, relaxed state. Adjustments also reduce spinal nerve irritation, and improve blood circulation. These changes may be enough, in many cases, to convince the brain to relax, beginning the process of healing. A healthy and balanced spine is one key to effectively managing stress.
Chiropractors are trained in nutritional and other therapies for stress. Several nutritional supplements, including B vitamins, help the body cope with stress. It is also beneficial to learn relaxation techniques, correct posture and make necessary environmental changes to help recovery from chronic stress. A chiropractor cannot make a job less stressful, or create a quieter, calmer world. What chiropractic treatment can do is help you develop healthy responses to stress, reducing potential physical damage.
Chiropractic is based on the concept that given the opportunity, the mind and body can heal itself. In relieving some of the effects of chronic stress, chiropractic care provides just such an opportunity.
Chiropractors work primarily with the spine, the root of the nervous system through which nerve impulses travel from the brain to the rest of the body. One effect of chronic stress is prolonged muscle tension and contraction. This muscle tension creates uneven pressures on the bony structures of the body, often leading the misalignment of the spinal column, known as subluxations.
Chronic stress also leads to nerve irritation. The adjustments of a chiropractor release muscle tension, and that helps the body return to a more balanced, relaxed state. Adjustments also reduce spinal nerve irritation, and improve blood circulation. These changes may be enough, in many cases, to convince the brain to relax, beginning the process of healing. A healthy and balanced spine is one key to effectively managing stress.
Chiropractors are trained in nutritional and other therapies for stress. Several nutritional supplements, including B vitamins, help the body cope with stress. It is also beneficial to learn relaxation techniques, correct posture and make necessary environmental changes to help recovery from chronic stress. A chiropractor cannot make a job less stressful, or create a quieter, calmer world. What chiropractic treatment can do is help you develop healthy responses to stress, reducing potential physical damage.
Chiropractic is based on the concept that given the opportunity, the mind and body can heal itself. In relieving some of the effects of chronic stress, chiropractic care provides just such an opportunity.