Chiropractic & Its Connection to Stress Management
February 1, 2020Stress is a part of life. Busy schedules, lots of commitments, work, family and fun all take up time. With all these things piled on top of each other, sometimes it feels like there’s not enough minutes in each day. This filled-up schedule takes a toll on us, both physically and emotionally. Understanding the different effects of long-term stress and how chiropractic care can help is important to improving your health. Chiropractic has a strong part to play in stress management.
Chiropractic & Its Connection to Stress Management
Chronic stress
Stress is a fight-or-flight response in our bodies, but when this is prolonged past the self-protection period, stress takes a toll on our health. Long-term stress is called chronic stress—stress that holds on. Chronic stress affects the body, emotions and mind. This is because prolonged stress affects the balance in our bodies. Homeostasis is interrupted. Chronic stress can manifest in many ways, including loss of sleep, headaches and tense muscles. More serious consequences can include heart, mental and gastrointestinal effects.
According to chiropractor Dr. Jason Van Ness, “Your body’s stress response is good for you – it keeps you safe in dangerous situations. Long-term stress, however, harms the body. This ties into chiropractic care because the spine has a direct link to the center of the brain that produces stress hormones. When you are subluxated, your body is under stress and releasing stress hormones.” Chronic stress is not something to be ignored.
Physical effects
The physical toll of stress was touched on above: loss of sleep, headaches and tense muscles. In addition to these symptoms, harmful habits can be formed under stress. Unhelpful food or drink habits are easily formed when dealing with stressful situations. In addition to improving the physical issues involved with stress, regular chiropractic care can involve dietary coaching and toxin detox programs. Implementing a nutrition plan will better your health, even after the long-term stress has subsided.
During stressful times, how you hold your body is usually affected, making it especially advantageous to meet with a chiropractor who will provide tips and exercises to improve your posture. Posture and relaxation exercises can lessen the physical effects of stress.
Emotional effects
Emotionally, stress can create quite a dent. Chiropractic care improves emotional functioning as well as physical. Spinal adjustments improve blood circulation, which benefits the brain’s ability to function at a high level. Chiropractic care releases tension held in the body. This physical tension produces tense emotions and thoughts, so the release is important to emotional health as well as physical. In addition, massage therapy also relaxes muscles and improves circulation. Spinal adjustments trigger the increase of three hormones: neurotensin, oxytocin and cortisol. This improves emotional health because neurotensin offsets stress-induced pain, and oxytocin improves feelings of social bonding.
Chiropractic care
When the spine is not aligned properly, the nervous system has trouble sending messages along. With spinal adjustment, communication throughout the body is improved, thus improving the connection between the mind and the body. With improved communication, the brain can more easily turn off the fight-or-flight response triggered by stress. When signals can send more clearly throughout the body, the correct ones can be listened to. This means that the first step to reduce physical and emotional stress is spinal adjustment. Chiropractic care is on the front line of dealing with stress’s effects on the body.
When dealing with stress management, regular chiropractic care can make all the difference. Spinal adjustments, massage therapy and dietary coaching improve your mental and physical health during stress. At Van Ness Chiropractic, Drs. Van Ness, Parkin and Sabri provide care that benefits your body and your life. To schedule an appointment, click here or call (847) 842-8070 today.
