Stress comes from various places and for many different reasons. These could be mental and physical. Stress can stem from various factors such as family, employment or unemployment, excessive work, daily or nightly commuting, relationships, illness, and sleep issues. All of these can create stress. The American Psychology Association showed that 54% of Americans worry about their stress and are likely to seek help.

Many people experience stress without realizing it. Such stress is the way of the modern world, and we’ve become used to it. Despite getting used to a stressful world, it still places genuine strain on the body. This strain manifests through increased blood pressure, heart rate, respiration, metabolism, and blood flow. This response is the primordial fight-or-flight reaction, preparing for action in a stressful situation.

The body’s sympathetic nervous system (SNS) generates the fight-or-flight reaction. When the body feels a stressor, the SNS turns on and stimulates the appropriate bodily response. This process allows us to defend ourselves in the wild, where stress comes from a reaction to wild animals and grave danger. Unfortunately, this reaction can do more harm than good in today’s world, as most of us no longer live in danger from wild, hungry animals.

Symptoms of Stress:

Stress is the disruption of homeostasis but is helpful/necessary in various situations. For example, during exercise or sports, stress is needed to push the athlete or person to a new level. When in the learning process, stress is required in order to help the brain learn a new language, solve a math problem, create a web page, a presentation, etc. Humans can handle small amounts of periodic stress. But once stress becomes chronic, then it turns into a disease.

The effects of stress on the body are real. The symptoms fall into four categories: behavioral, cognitive, emotional, and physical.

Behavioral Symptoms:

• Eat More/Less
• Isolation From Others
• Need Alcohol, Cigarettes, Or Drugs For Relaxation
• Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing)
• Procrastination/Neglect of Responsibilities
• Sleep Too Much/Too Little

Cognitive Symptoms:

• Anxiousness/Racing Thoughts
• Constant Worrying
• Memory problems
• Negative Outlook
• Poor judgment
• Unable To Concentrate

Emotional Symptoms:

• Agitation, Inability To Relax
• Depression Or General Unhappiness
• Feelings of Loneliness and Isolation
• Feeling Overwhelmed
• Irritability
• Moodiness
• Short Temper

Physical Symptoms:

• Aches/Pains
• Chest Pain/Rapid Heartbeat
• Constant Colds
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Dizziness
• Low Libido
• Nausea
• Weight Gain

Response to Stress:

The body’s stress response, fight or flight, works when threatened and in a dangerous situation. It’s all about self-preservation. However, it becomes unhealthy if this state of self-preservation persists indefinitely. In today’s world it is triggered, not in response to an aggressive situation or wild animal trying to attack, but instead as an ongoing reaction to life’s stresses, which is highly probable to be harmful to your health.

People react to the same situation in different ways. What might stress one person may not stress another.

During a stressful moment, the pituitary gland releases adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). It tells the adrenal glands to release stress hormones into the bloodstream, which include cortisol and adrenaline. Then several physiological changes take place, such as an increase in heart rate and blood pressure; this shuts down the digestive system and affects the immune system. Following the stressful situation, the cortisol and adrenaline return to normal levels, as well as heart rate, blood pressure, and other bodily functions.

A problem arises when these levels fail to return to normal. Instead, they remain raised from the ongoing stress of various situations. The body doesn’t get a chance to recover to its natural state. When this goes on for a long time, the stress response can disrupt all of the body’s processes.

Chronic stress also damages the immune system. It becomes weaker and less able to fend off infections. When it works properly, the immune system responds to infections by releasing chemicals to cause inflammation to rid itself of the bug. But when chronic inflammation occurs from stress, degenerative diseases can begin to take over.

Stress also affects the nervous system; this causes anxiety, panic attacks, depression, and dementia. The chronic release of cortisol causes damage to certain areas of the brain. This affects sleep patterns and sex drive. As heart rate and blood pressure increase, it is dangerous for the cardiovascular system, as it creates the potential for a heart attack or stroke.

Chiropractic Treatment for Stress:

Chiropractic treatment can help manage stress. Chiropractic focuses on the spine, the nervous system’s headquarters. Chronic stress affects muscle tension and contraction, which can lead to uneven pressure on the skeleton, leading to subluxations. Chiropractic adjustments ease muscle tension, easing stress on areas of the skeleton and helps take the sting out of the subluxations. With the subluxations abated, a balanced spine can be achieved. This is a crucial component of managing stress. And it may sound like a CD that skips over and over, but proper nutrition is a crucial component of stress management.

Chiropractic is effective for various pain conditions, but over the last few years, various research studies have found that it can also help improve overall health. These recent studies have shown that chiropractic can regulate immune function, heart rate, and blood pressure.

Stress Management:

Stress creates real detrimental physical effects. Trying to avoid stressful situations isn’t always possible. We advise becoming familiar with the possible actions/outcomes and minimizing the negative.

Relaxed Breathing Technique (Diaphragmatic Breathing): Stress often leads to rapid, shallow breathing that affects the other aspects of the stress response, i.e., increased heart rate and perspiration. Controlled breathing is an effective way of dealing with the effects of stress.

• Mouth closed, shoulders relaxed, inhale slowly and deeply through your nose to a count of six, allowing the air to fill your diaphragm.
• Keep The Air In The Lungs And Slowly Count To Four
• Exhale Through The Mouth And Slowly Count To Six
• Repeat This Three To Five Times

Progressive Muscle Relaxation Technique: The aim is to reduce tension stored in the muscles. Find a relaxed private area. Dim the lights, loosen up, and get comfortable. Tense up the following muscle areas for a minimum of five seconds before relaxing for 30 seconds. Repeat, then move on to the next area.

• Central Face: Squint eyes tightly, wrinkle nose and mouth, and feel the tension. Relax. Repeat.
• Chest, Shoulders, Upper Back: Pull shoulders backwards where shoulder blades almost touch. Relax. Repeat.
• Feet: Turn feet inward, curl toes up, and spread out. Relax. Repeat.
• Hands and Lower Arms: Make a tight fist and tense your wrists. Feel the tension in your hands, knuckles, and lower arms. Relax. Repeat.
• Lower Face: Clench teeth and pull back corners of mouth; show teeth like a growling dog. Relax. Repeat.
• Lower Legs: Lift feet toward the ceiling and flex them back to point at the body. Feel the tension in your calves. Relax. Repeat.
• Neck: Lower your chin to your chest and feel the stretch at the back of your neck. Relax. Repeat.
• Shoulders: Raise shoulders toward ears, feel the tension in the shoulders, head, neck, and upper back. Relax. Repeat.
• Stomach: Tighten stomach muscles. Feel the tension. Relax. Repeat.
• Upper Arms: Pull arms back, press elbows into the body. Don’t tense lower arms. Feel the tension in your arms, shoulders, and back. Relax. Repeat.
• Upper Face: Raise your eyebrows upwards and feel the tension in both your forehead and scalp. Relax. Repeat.
• Upper Legs: Squeeze knees together, lift legs off the chair or floor, feel the tension in your thighs, relax, and repeat.

Do these muscle relaxations twice a day for maximum benefit. Take 10 minutes for each session.

Exercise: It is a great way to release energy. Improved health guards against the negative effects and releases endorphins (neurotransmitters that relieve pain). Exercise helps with concentration, sleep, illness, and pain and improves life quality. Age doesn’t matter, as exercise will create amazing benefits for mind and body and remove feelings of stress.

Listen to Relaxing, Soothing Sounds: Ten minutes alone with soothing sounds can help with relaxation. Allow the mind to get away from the accumulated stresses of the day. Meditation CDs, soothing music, or natural sounds all work to achieve a relaxed state. The choice is yours.

Chiropractic Treatment Helps With Stress