When most people think about seeking chiropractic care, they consider it to be mostly for physical pain, such as back or neck or joint pain. While it is true that chiropractic care focuses on the alignment and balance of the body, it is not simply to relieve physical pain.
Chiropractic care treats the entire body and mind of the patient, and can even provide relief for stress and anxiety.
Stress Treatment Through Chiropractic Care
Stress is an unrelenting cycle that keeps the body in a state of tension. While it is useful in a fight or flight situation, constant stress and tension can wreak havoc with your musculoskeletal system. When we are constantly tense, our bodies maintain high blood pressure and it can become difficult to get restful sleep, which begins a cycle of stress that can be hard to break.
Chiropractic adjustments focusing on relieving muscle tension can bring relief to the physical symptoms of stress, and can allow the patient to fully relax, breaking this cycle.
Treating Anxiety and Depression With Chiropractic Care
Forty million people in the United States alone at some point will experience the effects of mental illness, including the following:
- Inability to rest and relax, including significant sleep disruption
- Tension or aches throughout the body
- Headaches and migraines
- Constant panic, worry, and feelings of worthlessness
- Difficulty with focus and concentration
- Restlessness accompanied by fatigue and lack of motivation
Chiropractic care addresses these alignment and balance issues, with the following targeted areas of treatment:
- Nutrition and exercise: chiropractors can work with you after a thorough examination to create a diet and exercise plan that can raise your levels of essential vitamins and nutrients, as well as increasing release of dopamine and serotonin, which can regulate your moods.
- Lowered blood pressure: a misalignment can affect the circulatory system, causing hypertension, which has pervasive effects on your health, including increasing stress and anxiety. Once the body is brought back into balance, the blood pressure can return to normal levels as well.
- Help with sleeping and relaxation: one of the devastating cycles of anxiety is an inability to truly relax, with the mind racing and the body in a constant state of tension. Chiropractic treatments have been shown to reduce stress hormones such as cortisol and increase hormones such as oxytocin that can help us feel more calm and relaxed.
- Reduction in associated pain: the migraines and body aches that often accompany stress-related illness can be overwhelming in and of themselves, and keep a cycle of pain and anxiety going for years. A proper realignment can relieve the physical pain symptoms, allowing the body to be free from that stress, which can in turn allow the mind a chance to feel some of that freedom as well.
Above all, chiropractic treatment for stress and anxiety has none of the unwanted side effects of other treatments and medication, and addresses what may be some of the root physical causes instead of the symptoms. By restoring balance to the body, the balance is restored to the mind as well.