Chiropractic and Stress
Anyone out there stressed? It seems these days, stress is the norm and not the exception. While many stressors in life are relatively uncontrollable (job, kids, money, health), there are things we can do to offset their negative impacts. One of them is chiropractic care.
Under normal conditions, stress is our body’s way of telling us there is danger—a bear is chasing you, for example. Our body reacts to stress by activating all the things that would help us deal with that imminent threat: it raises blood pressure to get blood to your muscles, releases adrenaline and cortisol to help increase alertness and make blood sugar available for use, and many other things. This is the sympathetic, or “Fight or Flight,” side of our nervous system. At the same time, your body mutes all the processes that aren't helpful in dealing with that danger — sleep, digestion, and reproductive function. This is the parasympathetic, or "Rest and Digest," side of our nervous system.
If a bear is chasing you, you welcome “Fight or Flight”, as being eaten by a bear is certainly bad for your health. But if you are stressed out from life all the time, those same changes will have a negative impact on your health. Chronically elevated cortisol increases blood pressure, raises blood sugar, contributes to weight gain, and causes a host of other issues over time.
So how does chiropractic help?
You feel better physically and mentally. When you're in less pain and moving better, your overall sense of wellbeing improves.
Adjustments improve breathing capacity. Better spinal mobility, especially in the thoracic spine, allows you to breathe more fully. Improved breathing helps shift your nervous system away from Fight or Flight.
Chiropractic lowers blood pressure. Research has shown that adjustments can reduce blood pressure by an average of 14 mmHg.
Chiropractic improves sleep. Restoring balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems leads to better, more restorative sleep.
Chiropractic allows for more comfortable exercise and exercise is one of the most effective stress-relievers we have. Getting adjusted helps you move and exercise with less pain, so you can keep up with it consistently.
The cervical spine and autonomic tone are connected. Research has shown that loss of the natural cervical curve can negatively affect autonomic nervous system tone — another reason why maintaining healthy spinal alignment matters beyond just pain relief.
