Chiropractic - A Key to Fighting Stress

Written By Tracy & Keim Chiropractic LLC on December 27, 2019

stressed out man

Feeling stressed this holiday season? As we discussed in our last post, the November-January holiday rush can cause significant spikes in stress levels. Stress, in turn, weakens the immune system, making us more susceptible to illness, fatigue, and pain. Fortunately, there are many ways to strengthen your body’s ability to cope by taking steps to reduce stress in your life. One of the most powerful of these stress-fighting tools is Chiropractic.

Did you know that Chiropractic adjustments can do more than just relieve pain? Recent studies have found a host of benefits connected with Chiropractic, including improvements in many of the hormones and blood plasma biomarkers that are linked to stress reduction. That’s right—Chiropractic can actually reduce stress and promote better sleep, energy, and bodily function, as well as healing throughout the body. To understand why Chiropractic is a key to fighting stress, we first need to understand the ways in which stress weakens the body.

How Stress Affects Your Body

Stress has a significant effect on your immune system, but it can also take a toll on your body in other ways. Stress causes muscles to tense and contract, and can even cause nerves to function improperly. People experiencing stress over a prolonged period of time often move in unnatural ways without even realizing it. These types of movements, combined with muscle tension and dysfunctional nerves, only compound the problem, causing greater discomfort throughout the body. Sometimes this results in back and neck pain, but fatigue and headaches can also signal that stress is having a negative impact on your body.

How Chiropractic Can Help Fight Stress

So how can Chiropractic help you beat the effects of stress? Chiropractic treatment can realign your spinal column for natural, pain-free movement; relieve tension in your muscles; and restore proper function to your body. Let’s take a closer look at each of these.

Realign the Spinal Column

If you’ve been carrying yourself in an unnatural way due to stress, chances are that the pressure from these movements have been weighing on your bones and gradually causing them to become misaligned. When a chiropractor adjusts your neck and spine, they move your bones back into their proper positions so that they can support freer movement. And the position of your bones isn’t the only thing influenced by the spinal column: the nervous system is intricately connected with the spinal column too, which means that an adjustment can provide relief from stress symptoms like headaches and nerve pain.

Reduce Muscle Tension

Adjusting the spine also plays an important role in relieving muscle tension. Many people feel an almost immediate reduction in physical pain and emotional stress after Chiropractic treatment. This is because realigning the spine releases the tension your muscles are holding. This, in turn, relaxes your body, improves blood circulation, and stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system (a part of your nervous system that induces a feeling of calm.) Your body and mind influence one another, so when your physical body is relaxed, your mental and emotional state improves too.

Restore Bodily Function

Because the nervous system and the spinal column depend on one another, Chiropractic can have a positive impact on your entire neurology. Even basic bodily functions that you barely think about, such as breathing and swallowing, are connected to the spine. You may not notice these more subtle effects, but when the spine is properly aligned it restores and optimizes your bodily functions, reducing many of these almost invisible symptoms. When your body is functioning properly, it’s better able to protect you from illness, pain, and fatigue. You’ll likely feel more positive and energetic after treatment, even if you can’t pinpoint exactly why.

Chiropractic can help you heal from stress, and even prevent its effects from taking hold in the first place, allowing you to feel well both mentally and physically. One of the best gifts you can give to yourself this holiday season is freedom from the debilitating influence of stress. Contact Tracy and Keim to learn more about how you can take advantage of the power of Chiropractic and start the new year right with a stress-free mind and body.

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Posted In: Chiropractic Stress Relief