What Stress is Doing to You

Stress is a natural reaction to a challenging or frightening situation. The stress-response is hard-wired in the human brain and is responsible for keeping us safe. Though today, most of us will never be threatened by an attack from a dangerous predator, our bodies continue to react as if our lives are in danger whenever we encounter a demanding situation. A release of adrenaline causes the heart rate and blood pressure to increase and our muscles tense as natural hormonal reactions set off our internal alarm system.

Stress and Your Health

In honor of National Stress Awareness Month, Dr. Ringer and his staff want to help you understand how the stress response can damage your health and what you can do about it. When the stress-response is activated too often, the body becomes overexposed to cortisol and other hormones, putting you at greater risk for a host of health problems such as:

• Anxiety
• Changes in sleeping habits
• Chronic pain
• Depression
• Digestive problems
• Heart disease
• Memory impairment

While we can’t completely eliminate the natural stress response, we can learn to reduce it. We can also take steps to reverse the damage caused by stress.

Chiropractic Care for Health

Chiropractic care not only relieves the pain caused by tense, stressed-out muscles, it helps promote optimal wellness and reduces stress. We understand that stress is one of the biggest health problems our patients face. That’s one reason why we also provide massage therapy services to our clients. Massage therapy is shown to be an effective way to reduce overall stress, combat the negative effects of stress hormones and relieve pain associated with stress.

If you are experiencing stress or have concerns about the effects of daily stress on your health, please call our office today.

What situations in your life are currently causing you to feel stressed out?