Chiropractic Care and Stress

Stress can take a significant toll on a person’s physical and mental health, and there can be a number of causes contributing to varying stress levels. Work, a busy schedule, caring for children or an ill family member, finances, and much more can cause our nervous system to respond negatively. The Autonomic Nervous System is in charge of the reflexive and involuntary functions that we use when coping with stress, and the two parts are the sympathetic and parasympathetic.

The sympathetic nervous system is one many people are familiar with that gives us that “flight or fight” response when a stressful situation arises. The parasympathetic nervous system provides a calmer response to stress known as “rest and digest.” When going into parasympathetic mode, your body is restored to a more tranquil state and can repair itself more effectively.

When you are continually feeling stressed, the sympathetic nervous system may be activated too often or even continually without a counteraction, and large amounts of cortisol and other stress hormones are released. Over time, you can suffer from adrenal fatigue because internal organs start to deplete and lack the materials needed to function properly. You can also suffer from depression, chronic back pain, and other adverse symptoms in the mind and body.

Chiropractic Treatment for Stress

When you suffer from persistent stress, changes to the homeostatic mechanisms can occur, and these extreme changes can have detrimental effects on your body and overall health. Chiropractic care utilizes spinal manipulative therapy to improve areas that stress impacts, such as reproductive functions, metabolic function, immune disorders, glucocorticoids, and neuromuscular disorders. A mind-body approach is taken to help control the symptoms associated with stress and reduce the effects it can have on a person.

Because a chiropractor treats the whole body, individualized care and specialized treatments are given based on the patient’s level of stress and wear and tear on their body. In one study, even when patients were seeking treatments because of issues such as vertebra subluxation, they still paid attention to stress. In that same study, 30% of people thought of themselves as moderately to severely stressed, and 50% of patients considered stress to affect current ailments. Seventy-one percent of patients wanted to include stress-coping strategies as part of their chiropractic care, and 44% said they would consider taking self-development programs to enhance their skills in managing stress.

Stress Relief Is Available

While the stress response is necessary for health, too much can wreak havoc on the internal systems of the body. Chiropractic care does not gloss over the issues caused by stress with medications or surgery, but instead works with the body to ensure patients get a resolution. Trust that you can reach your optimal level of health and have normal reactions to stress, as well as reduce it, when you seek chiropractic treatment. Speak with a professional about chiropractic adjustments, lifestyle changes, and self-development programs that help you skillfully manage stress.   

Get relief from stress and the health issues that too much can cause by visiting Hope Chiropractic for customized treatment that focuses on the mind and body. 317-973-0304

Sources

• Hardy, K., Pollard, H. “The Organization of the Stress Response, and Its Relevance to Chiropractors: A Commentary.” Chiropractic and Osteopathy, 2006; 14: 25.
  www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1629015/.

• Jamison, J. “Stress: The Chiropractic Patients’ Self-Perceptions.” Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics, 1999 Jul-Aug; 22(6): 395-398.
  www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10478772.

• Won, E., Kim, Y.K. “Stress, the Autonomic Nervous System, and the Immune-kynurenine Pathway in the Etiology of Depression.” Current Neuropharmacology, 2016; 14(7): 665-673.
  www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27640517.