Stressed Out? Did You Know Chiropractic Treatment Can Help?

Stress is a common problem among Americans. We work long hours, take on lots of responsibilities, cart our kids to extracurricular activities, and more.

Then, in order to cope with our stress, we engage in all kinds of unhealthy activities. We indulge in food and drink. We overmedicate. We overload on media exposure.

All of these things take a toll on our bodies.

If you’re looking for a healthier way to manage your stress, consider how chiropractic care can help. A skilled chiropractor will use tested techniques to help relieve your stress, boost your concentration, and improve your cellular function. Read on to learn the specific ways that a chiropractor can help relieve your symptoms of stress.

What Stress Is and How People Tend to React to It

There are a number of things that can cause stress, but when you break it down they fall into just a few categories:

1. Environment. If your environment is too harsh, noisy, or stimulating, you will feel stress.
2. Body. When you experience low nutrition, fatigue, or illness, your body is under stress.
3. Emotions. Your emotions are affected by your ability to tolerate stressful responses—for example, arguments with family members or conflict at work.

Your fight-or-flight response is triggered when stress is received in any of these ways. Your body secretes the stress hormone cortisol to help you take flight or engage in a fight, whether it’s due to a real or perceived threat. Prolonged high levels of cortisol from day after day of stressful situations can cause serious side effects:

• Autoimmune disorders
• Behavior and mood disorders
• Cardiovascular disease
• High blood pressure
• Insulin resistance
• Obesity

What a Chiropractor Can Do to Alleviate Your Stress

Chiropractic care helps you manage your stress in several different ways, so your chances of long-term damage are greatly reduced. Here are several techniques an experienced chiropractor may use to help you manage your stress.

Spinal manipulation

When you feel stressed, your muscles tense and your spine can become misaligned. Your spine is the highway for your neurological system, sending messages to every part of your body.

When your spine is out of alignment, your entire body is negatively affected. A spinal adjustment by your chiropractor will restore your body’s function and health.

A spinal adjustment will reduce nerve irritation and muscle spasms. It will improve blood circulation, which will reduce your cortisol levels and promote relaxation.

Muscle tension

Your muscles tense in response to stress. Poor posture and walking stance can also cause muscle tension. Muscle tension can lead to head and neck pain, back pain, loss of sleep, and lack of concentration ability.

Chiropractic care will relieve your muscle tension, correct your posture, and alleviate your pain. It can also help reduce your stress-related headaches or migraines.

Several studies have proven the effectiveness of chiropractic care in dealing with muscle tension. One Japanese study evaluated 12 people with neck pain. After the subjects received chiropractic care, they had lowered pain sensation and reduced cortisol levels.

Another study reported that 72 percent of those who suffered from migraines experienced improvement after chiropractic care. Since most headaches are related to muscle tension in the neck, chiropractic care can relieve the problem by reducing muscle tension.

An experienced chiropractor will perform alignments or therapeutic massages to loosen tense muscles. They will offer suggestions for improved posture, which will create balance in the body’s musculoskeletal system.

Relaxation techniques

Your chiropractor is trained in relaxation techniques to help you get better sleep and head off stress. Around 60 percent of people who receive chiropractic care experience less pain, less fatigue, and better sleep quality.

Chiropractic treatments focus on improvements to the nervous system, which will improve immune system function and relieve pain. Treatments also alleviate pressure points in the back, neck, and joints. These treatments increase mobility between spinal vertebrae, which promote greater flexibility, range of motion, balance, and coordination. You will feel more relaxed with a flexible, pain-free body.

Your chiropractor can also recommend exercises for you to do at home that will increase strength and flexibility and improve your posture. These exercises promote relaxation and help prevent future injuries.

Nutritional supplements

Stressful times often trigger poor eating habits. Many people turn to sweets, carbohydrates, and alcohol to soothe their stressful feelings, but that only exacerbates the problem and keeps the stress cycle in motion.

Good nutrition will restore health to your entire body. Chiropractors are trained in nutritional practices. They can offer you counsel on your diet, suggest improvements and changes, and give advice about nutritional supplements that can improve your health. For example, you may benefit from taking B complex vitamins to help cope with stress.

If stress is taking over your life, don’t wait to schedule an appointment with an experienced chiropractor. Better health is waiting for you.

About the Author: 

Dr. Singer has been a practicing chiropractor for more than 20 years, and USA Health & Therapy has been around since 2004. Over the course of his career, Singer has helped tens of thousands of people with all kinds of issues by using a wide variety of treatment strategies. He has extensive knowledge of chiropractic modalities, including Gonstead, Diversified, Thompson Drop Table, and Activator, and in 1997 he earned a special adjunctive Chiropractic Certification in Spinal Trauma (CCST) to better provide care for car crash victims. Dr. Singer is licensed to practice chiropractic medicine in both Florida and New York.