CHIROPRACTIC AND STRESS

To say that we live in a stressful time would be an understatement. Today, stress is unavoidable, whether it is family responsibilities, work projects, or sitting in 3 hours worth of traffic. There is all of this to worry about, and then let's just add a global pandemic. Stress and anxiety levels for everyone are at an all-time high.

We all know that stress negatively affects our bodies. Stress can be physical, emotional, psychological, environmental, infectious, or a combination of these. It is important to know that your adrenal glands, which secrete the stress hormone, respond to every kind of stress in the same way, whatever the cause. When you are faced with a stressful situation, the adrenals divert energy away from day-to-day maintenance and help you stay focused, alert, and even alive.

Any system your body doesn’t need at that moment (like digestion) takes a backseat as your body gears up to help you survive a potential disaster. Take it back 1000 years, this was an important feature, because if a lion was trying to eat you, you had the energy and focus to either fight it or get away. Now days our stressors are no longer lions, but rather taxes, work, kids or traffic, but yet our bodies still react in the same way. It is this constant production of stress hormones that then manifest itself physically in the form of headaches/migraines, muscle and joint pain, and neck and back pain.

It is therefore a Chiropractor's duty to take a mind-body approach that favours adjusting physical symptoms in order to improve mental ones. One study among 12 men found numerous improvements, including lower stress levels and better quality of life, when they saw a Chiropractor.

Chiropractors focus on spinal health, which influences almost every region of your body. Studies show that after getting a chiropractic adjustment, your body triggers an increase in hormones such as neurotensin, oxytocin, and cortisol. These hormones are involved in positive nervous system functioning, such as:

Neurotensin: nullifies stress-induced pain

Oxytocin: boosts communication between nerves and feelings of social bonding

Cortisol: blocks pain from inflammation

The release of these hormones will have you feeling happier than you did before you walked into the practice.

You can’t eliminate stress, but you can find strategies to better manage it and reduce its impact on your spine and overall health. For these reasons, see your chiropractor to make sure your nervous system is functioning at its absolute best. It’s a crazy world out there right now, and it has never been more important to stay healthy AND happy.

Cheers,

Team Hughes Chiropractic

(Blog post is written from a combination of my experiences and the various research I have read over time).