How to Combat Physical, Chemical, and Emotional Stress
By Dr. Molly Casey
Chiropractic care is about optimal health and wellness. Optimal health and wellness starts with the nervous system, which is the master control system of the body. The brain speaks through the spinal cord and miles and miles of nerves to every single cell, structure and system in your body. Those cells, systems, and structures also send information back through the spinal cord to your brain. It is your communication loop. The better that loop functions, the better you function and the greater chance of you experiencing optimal health and wellness. This is your nervous system.
The spine houses and protects the central portion of that nervous system. The better the spine functions, the better the chance for optimal communication. Thus, chiropractic care that restores spinal motion and health also promotes optimal health and wellness. Stress in various forms is one of the main reasons your health is negatively affected. Stress falls into three different categories. All of us are subject to all three categories of stress - physical, biochemical, and emotional/mental.
Physical
Physical stress is real and often folks don’t realize the degree to which they are under physical stress. It can come as a result of an accident or trauma. Physical stress can occur because of athletic passions -- think weekend warrior activities. And it can also occur because of repetitive behaviors or prolonged postural habits. Physical stress also comes as a result of sedentary lifestyles, such as working at a computer or sitting all day long. Physical stress undoubtedly plays a significant role in the function and health of your spine. Chiropractic care directly addresses physical stress through adjustments of the spinal joints.
Biochemical
What is biochemical stress? Think of all the chemicals in your life that are not supporting health and wellness. Environmental toxins, heavy metals that are often found in housing materials or water supplies, toxins found in food supply such as weed killer and pesticides, are all biochemical stresses. One cannot ingest something that is toxic, no matter how little of it is consumed, and not have it affect the body or health system in some way. The results with small ingestion may not be quantifiable, but as these are ingested repeatedly over time, the toxins build up and ultimately can wreak havoc on your nervous system and health.
Emotional/Mental
Emotional and mental health is an important component of an individual’s well-being. There are years and years of research to show emotional and mental components of our life affects one’s physical health. A very simple and quick visual is to think of the posture of someone who has had a really rough day. They don’t walk in the room and appear upbeat, shoulders down and back. The common posture of someone under this type of stress is shoulders rounded a bit forward, just dragging along. This stuff wears on us. It always wears on the cells of your body.
Stress comes in many forms. It is important to note that stress wears on your health physically in posture as well as internally in cells and on the nervous system. A way to counter this is through the chiropractic adjustment.
Chiropractic adjustments help relieve physical stress and improve the health of the communication system. Use chiropractic as one of your greatest stress reducers regardless of the type of stress you’re experiencing.
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