INDEX OF ALL ARTICLES

Keep Your Young Athlete Healthy and Fit

How can I protect myself from sports injuries?

Optimal Health For Triathletes

How Are You Handling The Stress In Your Life?

Childhood Ear Infections ... And What A Parent Should Do

Back Pack Troubles From Back-to-School Backpacks

Kids and Chiropractic

Vertebral Subluxation

Chiropractic got me to the Boston Marathon

Wellness Care For The Athlete

How Are You Handling The Stress In Your Life?
By Dr. Pamela Stone

These days, the war is on TV, in the newspaper, on the cover of magazines, and heard on the radio. No longer is it just a video game or action packed movie, what we are seeing is all for real. No matter what you are doing these past several weeks, we can’t seem to escape the war and it’s even harder to shield our children from it. How are you handling it?

Along with the war, we all have bills to pay, traffic to drive in, and obligations to fulfill. These unpleasant or challenging situations create stress in our lives, and these demands on our time and money can take a huge toll on our health. How can stress affect your health?

What Happens When You Face Stress?

First, your body quickly prepares itself for confrontation with the "fight or flight" response. Messages stream from your brain to your endocrine (hormonal) system and chemicals are released. If the stress stops, you revert to normal. This happens all under the control of the nervous system. If the stress continues, you go into the stage of resistance. Your body tries to adapt to the stress, and you continue to “fight or flight” (run from) the threat. As you do, you tense your muscles, your immune system becomes suppressed, and fatigue sets in. If the stress still continues, you may pass into the stage of exhaustion. Your system falls prey to anxiety, ill health and chronic dis-ease.

Just like a chain tends to break at its weakest link, people seem to exhibit stress and strain in the weakest areas of their bodies. For some, it's an upset stomach. For others, it’s recurring headaches, neck and shoulder pain, fatigue, muscle stiffness or a suppressed immune system. Regardless of your particular response, the function of your nervous system is involved. That is why chiropractic care can be so helpful.

The chiropractic approach to stress is to help normalize the function of your nervous system by removing interferences caused by the Vertebral Subluxation Complex. Chiropractors find the "weak links" in your spine (the spine protects the nervous system) and make corrections to the spine to help improve function. This can make a positive difference in your response to stress.

It may not be possible to remove the stress from a busy life. However, with the help of a Chiropractor, people often respond better to the unique challenges they face on a daily basis. Like a relaxing vacation, chiropractic care can help give your nervous system a greater capacity to adapt to stress.

Every person deals with stress differently, but an interesting study in The Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (July/August 1999) indicates that there is a relationship between chiropractic and the effect it can have on dealing with stress situations in your life.

This study revealed that nearly one in three chiropractic patients viewed their lives as moderately to severely stressful, and more than 50% felt that stress had a moderate to severe impact on their health problems. Additionally, 71% of the patients indicated that it would be helpful if their Chiropractor offered advice to help them cope with these stressful situations.

Communicating with your Chiropractor about dealing with stress is the starting point, and you might be surprised to find that your Chiropractor is full of sound advice on ways to effectively deal with stress in your life. Most people know that improving nerve and spinal function has a dramatic impact on improving emotional, mental and physical function. Getting the most out of your chiropractic care may include talking to your Chiropractor about effective strategies to deal with the stress in your life, so be sure to inform your Chiropractor about your personal situation so he or she can help you improve your health and wellness at maximum levels.

Dr. Pamela Stone is in private practice in Kennesaw and works with many athletes, children, and pregnant women. The Family Chiropractic Center is located in the Publix Shopping Center at the intersection of Highway 575 & Bells Ferry Road. Dr. Stone can be reached at 770-926-8746 or at drpstone@mindspring.com