The thought of back to school puts many parents and teachers in stress mode, especially during a pandemic! Even though stress is a part of life and increasingly common, it doesn’t make it a good thing. Chronic stress can be a contributing factor to major diseases and health conditions including heart disease, depression, and diabetes. Here’s how stress affects the nervous system and how regular chiropractic care can help.
Autonomic Nervous System
The autonomic portion of the nervous system is constantly active and controls all the automatic functions of the body. It is comprised of the enteric nervous system, the sympathetic nervous system, and the parasympathetic nervous system.
If you’ve heard the term “fight or flight” before, then you are familiar with the sympathetic nervous system. This system pulls the body’s focus away from functions like digestion and rest for protective functions. The parasympathetic system, on the other hand, is what manages repairing and resting the body including salivation, tears, and food digestion and elimination.
Chronic Stress Response
When you suffer from chronic low-grade stress, the sympathetic nervous system is steadily active at a higher rate than normal, but not so high that your life is in danger. Some causes of low-grade stress include family and life demands, working long hours for an extended period of time, poor sleep habits, bad posture, poor diet, dehydration, and more.
Chiropractic for Chronic Stress
Chiropractic has a positive impact on the communication of the central nervous system. Different areas of the spine correlate with specific stimulation of different areas of the nervous system. For example, if we were treating a patient with a highly overactive nervous system, we can focus on adjusting areas of the spine that stimulate joint motion and nervous system function in parts of the spine that contain
Nerves associated with parasympathetic functioning, like the upper neck. The process behind this is to ensure the nervous system functions optimally in areas that promote rest functions. This will help the nervous system’s calming elements and take pressure off the overactive sympathetic component.
Get Adjusted at Livingston County Chiropractic Center
After a patient leaves our practice, the most common feedback we get is how they just feel better. When the central nervous system is healthy, the other body systems will follow suit which creates a feeling of ease. When your body is at ease, tension is released from the muscles, motion is stored in the joints, and it can lead to a decrease in chronic stress. To learn more about how your local Pontiac, IL chiropractor can help relieve your stress, click here to contact us.
