Your Doctor of Chiropractic Can Help You Counteract Stress

Staff Writer

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), more women than men (28 % vs. 20%) are likely to report having high-level stress (8-10 on a 10-point scale). Nearly half of all women (49%) in one survey said their stress level increased in the past five years. It’s reassuring to know your doctor of chiropractic can help keep stress in check.

Good Stress and Bad Stress

Stress is how your body reacts to specific situations, such as compensating for danger or meeting a challenge. In a stressful event, the body releases hormones, such as adrenaline. Adrenaline delivers a burst of energy that helps you respond positively to stress.

In dangerous situations, stress signals the body, preparing it to face a threat or flee to safety. In these situations, the pulse quickens, breathing gets faster, muscles tense up, and the brain uses more oxygen and increases activity — all functions aimed at survival.

Any challenge — such as performance at work or school, a significant life change, or a traumatic event — can be stressful. Stress is not in itself bad. In non-life-threatening situations, stress can increase capabilities, such as taking a test, interviewing for a new job, or avoiding the car that cuts in front of you on the highway.

Why You Don’t Want Chronic Stress

Chronic (long-lasting) stress, however, can affect your mental and physical health. When you think your stress level is affecting your work or your relationships, let your doctor of chiropractic know.

From a physiological point of view, constant long-term stress can prevent the body from receiving a clear signal to return to normal functioning. Long-term stress can disturb the proper functioning of any of your body’s systems:

• Immune
• Digestive
• Cardiovascular
• Sleep cycle
• Reproductive organs.

If it continues over time, the strain on your body from stress can contribute to serious health problems: heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, or other illnesses, including mental conditions such as depression or anxiety.

Action Steps to Help Handle Stress in Positive Ways

You can learn much about stress by discussing it with your doctor of chiropractic. At the same time, there are action steps you can take to keep stress levels manageable.

Among them:

• Take deep breaths. Slow, deep breathing helps your muscles relax and the increased oxygen sends a message to your brain, relaxing the body.
• Stretches. Stretching also helps relax your muscles and makes you feel less tense.
• Meditate. Studies show that meditation – a set time of stillness to focus the mind on a positive or neutral thought — can help lower stress.
• Get adequate sleep. Most adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night to feel rested.
• Eat right. Caffeine or high-sugar snack foods provide jolts of energy, but that energy burns off quickly. Instead, eat foods with B vitamins, including bananas, fish, avocados, chicken, and dark green, leafy vegetables.
• Get moving. Physical activity boosts the levels of “feel-good” chemicals in your body called endorphins, which can help improve your mood. Physical activity also may help relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety.
• Get help. Specific situations may indicate a need for counseling or the need to see a medical doctor or nurse.
• Discover how chiropractic can help. Chiropractic treatments won’t eliminate stress, but they can help relieve stress symptoms. As healthcare specialists in musculoskeletal-related conditions and diseases, doctors of chiropractic know that the more stress the body endures, the more sensitive it is to physical imbalances and pain. Your doctor of chiropractic can help bring the body back into balance by ensuring proper spinal and extremity joint biomechanics.

CUKC Chiropractic Health Center

Cleveland University-Kansas City (CUKC), founded in 1922, is a private, nonprofit, chiropractic and health science-focused university in Overland Park, Kansas. The CUKC Chiropractic Health Center is open to the public and treats patients from Kansas City’s 15-county metro area. Our goal is to provide care and solutions for a better, more productive life for our patients.