Many people who are under stress understand that stress comes from a flight or fight response. Fight or flight is basically the response of the body when it is startled. So, if I turn the corner and there is a kid with a knife and he wants my cellphone and my wallet, my body is going to go through that stress response. The first thing that happens is that all of a sudden I’m going to get a little shot of adrenaline which increases the body’s physical capabilities, increases my visual and auditory acuity, it improves all of my senses and I’m on this heightened sense of alert. That is all amping up my nerve system. It is mostly the adrenaline that puts the body into that state.
There is also another hormone the body secretes when it is under stress called cortisol. Cortisol will actually stop the immune system from doing its job because when you are in fight or flight or survival mode, your body doesn’t want anything to do with healing. And the other thing that cortisol does is it takes insulin and keeps it in the bloodstream. Normally insulin will put the sugars away because when you have too much sugar in the bloodstream you’re pre-diabetic. But when you’re in fight or flight you need that energy to either run away or fight. Also, your brain runs on glucose so to figure out how to extradite you from that stressful situation, your body needs that extra sugar in the blood so it stops insulin from doing its job.
Now a chiropractor cannot really prevent the stress. Once the stress is there, it is there. But the physical manifestations of it, the tightness in the muscle, the build-up of lactic acid and these other chemical hormones in the body can all be resolved by getting the spine in correct alignment, eliminating the tension in the muscles and eliminating the lactic acid and the build-up that always accompany muscles when they’re tight for long periods of time. When people are under stress, they’ll get neck pain, back pain, they’ll get an upset stomach and headaches. It can affect people differently depending on where the weakness is in their spine and in their body. So, for a lot of people when they are under stress, painful conditions will be magnified. They will have more pain, more headaches, and those are the people that really find relief in chiropractic care because of the physical manifestations.
Ideally it is always best to remove the initial source of the stress but for some people, there are just so many sources that there is an accumulation of stress, tension, and poor posture in the body which contributes to the subluxation patterns. Eliminating the physical manifestations of stress will allow the body to heal and adapt quicker.
It’s a great opportunity for people to learn how to keep their body free from the physical manifestations of stress by seeing a chiropractor. But again, working to prevent the stress in the first place is always going to be your best bet.
Dr. Gregg D. Rubinstein, D.C., is a midtown Manhattan chiropractor with over 20 years of experience providing customized chiropractic treatment services to a wide range of clients in the Midtown Manhattan/West New York City area. Dr. Gregg Rubinstein and 57th Street Chiropractic can be reached at (917) 534-6484 and is located at 119 West 57th St. in New York, NY.
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