…it’s in your spine!

Did you know that your body can “remember” events?  Especially when they’re stressful events like a really terrible meeting at work, that traffic jam when you’re already late, the good advice that you just didn’t take, and those restless nights.

What happens, though, is your body reacts in what could be considered a surprising way – your posture changes.  Muscles tense up, and ultimately your spinal alignment gets all out of whack.

Understanding the Stress Spine Connection

When you’re under stress, your body activates what’s called the sympathetic nervous system (we talked about this not long ago in a recent blog).  This “fight, flight, or fawn” mode doesn’t just affect heart rate and adrenaline, it affects your entire body.

• Muscles tighten up and can pull in your shoulders, neck, and back.
• Breathing gets rapid, and can affect your ribs and spine.
• Your body may become hunched over (especially in the fawn state) and create cramped joints.

Here and there, it’s not a big deal.  You can relax, and return to homeostasis.  Too much stress, however, and your body starts to think that it’s normal, and tight muscles with rapid breathing, and a hunched-up posture are what it should be doing.

Listening to and Knowing your Body

The good news is that you can determine your stress levels by listening to your body.

When you’re burdened by stress, your shoulders and neck get tight and that tightness won’t go away with stretching.

You might start clenching your jaw – this especially happens during the night.  Some patients actually need night guards so they don’t grind their teeth to nothing.

Tightness in your back gets worse when you’re sitting.

Lower back pain develops even though you haven’t had injuries.

Overall, you just feel tired, drained, and worn out.  Even with plenty of rest, you feel like you’re crashing, and often you feel “down in the dumps.”  Like you need a good cry, but you don’t really feel like there’s anything worth crying over.

How a Chiropractor Helps You De-Stress

Of course, when you know there’s stress, you know that sometimes it takes a double-whammy to get rid of it.  Meditation and relaxation can do wonders, but if you hit that stress with a chiropractic adjustment, it doesn’t stand a chance!

Your nervous system needs, essentially, a hard reset.  It needs to recalibrate so it knows that pumping cortisol into the blood isn’t the answer.

Regular chiropractic adjustments help with:

• Better sleep
• Fewer headaches
• Improved digestion
• Improved breathing
• Calmness and clarity

Some patients actually report feeling “lighter” after an adjustment.  That’s because the body is functioning properly and smoothly.  Then, combine that with the above benefits, and a couple days later and that stress is melting away.

Make an Appointment with a Billings Chiropractor

Have you noticed your posture is off?  Clenched jaw, hunched shoulders, stooped over?

Then you need a Billings chiropractor.

Have you noticed that your muscles are tight, and stretching doesn’t do any good?

Then you need chiropractic care.

Have you noticed that stress is eating at you and you’re feeling depressed for seemingly no reason?

Then an adjustment by Dr. Shayne Durbin is in order.

Let’s get you scheduled.  Call our office at 406-545-2128, or use our contact form, and we’ll get you in for a de-stressing chiropractic adjustment.