Chiropractic Care: Not Just for Aches & Pains
The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for mobilizing your body’s fight-or-flight response to a perceived stress or threat. The parasympathetic nervous system controls the body’s response at rest, focusing on energy-conserving rest-and-repair responses, such as activating immunity and healing. Ideally, these two systems work in balance with each other.
When the sympathetic nervous system is active and the heart rate increases, breathing becomes more shallow, and the digestive system slows, the parasympathetic system is suppressed to allow your body to focus on the threat at hand. This heightened level of preparedness is great in an actual emergency, but not the healthy long term.
Those living with excessive stress may have an overactive sympathetic nervous system, meaning their body stays in a near constant fight-or-flight mode. This hyper awareness can not only be uncomfortable, resulting in anxiety and sleep disorders, among other things, it can lead to decreased immune function from the body not spending enough time on rest and repair.
Spinal misalignment can also greatly impact the nervous system’s ability to function effectively. Because each area of the spine supplies nerves to certain organs and other body parts, when it’s misaligned and movement is restricted, organs innervated by impacted areas don’t receive proper messages, which can negatively influence the way your nervous system responds to stress. Chiropractic adjustments free up restrictions and drastically improve your body’s ability to adapt to physical, environmental, and emotional stressors.
Different phases of life can bring a variety of situations that cause stress for many. Becoming a new parent, starting a new job, buying a home, sending a son/daughter off to college…all take a toll on mind and body, especially if your nervous system is not in balance.
While you hopefully know that chiropractic adjustments are excellent at addressing musculoskeletal issues and pain, you may not be aware of how chiropractic care can help your body’s nervous system function more effectively. We offer many different techniques and treatment options for nervous system support that can help you better utilize your body’s natural coping mechanisms for dealing with emotional and physical stress. We know you’ll find this addition to your wellness regime is not only helpful during stressful times, but all year long.
