Can Chiropractic Care Help with Stress and Anxiety

Anxiety affects people in many different ways. Sometimes it is good to feel anxious. For example, if taking a test or giving a speech causes you to feel some anxiety, it can push you to study more, work harder, practice more, etc. But when these anxieties show themselves all too often and you aren’t able to properly manage the feelings, it can lead to physical and mental health problems down the road. High blood pressure, obesity, skin conditions, stomach ulcers, migraines… These are just a few conditions that can occur as a result of high stress and anxiety.

For the most part, stress is a natural part of life. Thankfully, there are many ways we can naturally manage these feelings to decrease the risk of side effects — and chiropractic care just so happens to be a great place to start!

When we get stressed out, our muscles tend to clench and tighten. The more this unconscious response happens in the body, the more strain is put on the joints. This leads to the shortening of muscles and ligaments and less mobility in the joints of areas such as the shoulders, hip and spine. When the body is not functioning at its optimal level, typically pain is a major symptom.

If you are experiencing stress and pain at the same time, the two feelings feed off of each other and have the potential to become worse. Alleviating the pain that stress is causing on the body can help alleviate the feelings of anxiety as well. It’s all connected. It’s all about the nervous system, particularly the parasympathetic part of the nervous system that can be characterized as the “rest and digest” part, opposite the sympathetic part, which is the “fight or flight.” 

The parasympathetic nervous system is the part that allows the body to relax after a period of stress, anxiety, danger, etc., and chiropractic care helps to trigger that part of the nervous system.

The primary job of chiropractic is to help your nervous system function better. One of the ways it does this is by improving joint mobility and proprioception in the body. Not only does this help eliminate any pain and discomfort that decreased mobility can create, but it can assist the body in adapting and learning how to deal with future stressors and manage the physical and emotional effects better.

In addition to regular chiropractic care, the team at Dr. Gena Chiropractic can also provide guidance and recommendations for managing stress at home as well, such as stretching, meditation, yoga, journaling, going for a walk outside, calling a friend, and other mind-calming practices.  

Overall, chiropractic care can help restore balance in the body, both physically and emotionally. If stress and anxiety is common in your life, a visit to the chiropractor might be the missing piece to get you back to feeling and functioning at your best. Dr. Gena Chiropractic, your favorite family chiropractor in Plantation, is here for you. Remember, your health is in your hands; our hands are here to help.