For many people, stress controls their entire life.
Thousands of years ago, stress was a good thing.
We had to worry about being a midnight snack for a saber tooth tiger.
Now we get stressed out if we don't have our favorite midnight snack ready and waiting for us in our fridge.
Each ding on our smartphone can send a wave of stress through our body because we don't know what to expect on the other side of that notification.
Other things can happen, like someone dropping a book on a hard tile floor that sounds like a gunshot, that can quickly put your body into fight-or-flight mode, gearing up for a possible attack.
Your body responds the same whether you experience or simply perceive that potential attack.
So whether you're actually involved in a shootout, or you just think you are, your body's stress reaction is the same either way.
That fight-or-flight response has served us well for thousands of years.
It helps you stay focused and alert, and can even keep you alive.
Any system that your body doesn't need at that moment, like digestion, takes a backseat so your body can prepare itself to avoid a potential disaster.
Stress works wonderfully in the short term as long as it slows down once it's done its job.
When it doesn't slow down, and your stress response stays high when it's no longer needed, chronic stress frequently results.
If our bodies never have a chance to recover from stress, the adverse effects build up.
If the cause of your stress is physical, such as pain or dysfunction, it can cause a self-feeding cycle.
A body in pain tries to protect itself with tension, which makes the pain worse and creates more stress.
Chiropractic care relieves stress by interrupting that cycle, helping your body to heal and regain balance.
In the article below, we will discuss the common sources of stress and how chiropractic care can help you feel better.
Table of Contents
Posture
Today's world has many things that can degrade our posture.
Driving your car, playing video games, or sitting at a desk all day all go to war with good posture.
Most of us spend too much time sitting, and there aren't enough chairs that are designed to support the healthy curves of the spine.
When you look at your smartphone, you usually have it in your hands looking down at it.
This pushes your head forward instead of keeping it balanced at the top of your spine.
The weight in your head then causes significant pressure in your neck.
This all adds up to stiffness and muscle aches.
When you're out of alignment, regular movements like standing or looking over your shoulder can cause pain.
It might seem overly simple, but taking natural steps to relieve stress with simple tricks like eliminating stiffness can have a considerable impact.
This pain usually isn't severe, but it's a constant drain on your energy and resilience.
When you have proper posture, you feel stronger and more effective.
Muscle Pain
Your body is supported by a balanced structure of bone and muscle.
When part of that structure is out of balance, it impacts the entire system.
A subluxation (or misalignment) in the spine often causes weaknesses in the nearby muscles.
The imbalance causes a ripple effect as other muscles contract to compensate.
You end up with a sore shoulder muscle when the problem began in your spine.
A chiropractic adjustment takes the extra pressure off overworked muscles, restoring balance and easing the pain.
When your muscles and bones support each other as they should, muscle pain and the risk of injury is reduced, making chiropractic care a natural way to relieve stress through increased physical comfort.
Dysfunction
All the signals from your brain to your body travel through our spinal cord.
From there, neurons branch off to carry the signals to every part of your body.
A misalignment can impinge on those nerves, affecting that communication.
This causes a wide range of problems, including digestion problems and low energy.
It's very easy to feel overwhelmed when you don't feel your best.
Correcting a subluxation relieves the pressure on those nerves, creating another outlet for chiropractic stress and anxiety relief.
The brain can communicate clearly with all the other systems, and everything functions together as it should.
When your body works efficiently, you're able to respond positively to the difficulties life throws at you.
Anxiety
All of these common issues, combined with the pressures of modern-day life, can spark stress and anxiety in anyone.
Relentless sensory input from electronic devices, sensory noise, and the business of life often activates the sympathetic nervous system.
The Sympathetic Nervous System is the fight or flight response we talked about earlier.
However, when fight or flight is triggered by a car horn or a barking dog, it leaves with you a pounding heart and tension all over your body.
Visiting your chiropractor to make sure your spine is aligned and all of your systems are communicating with each other will help you deal with the anxiety of everyday life.
Chiropractic Care and Stress
In the same way that there are many causes of mental and physical stress and tension, there are also many natural ways to relieve anxiety and stress.
To learn more about how chiropractic care uses natural techniques that can be used for stress and anxiety relief, speak to a chiropractor today.
Florida Spine & Injury is Florida's top chiropractic clinic here to help you get the relief you need. Click below to get your free consultation.
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