My focus is on solutions and correcting health conditions if at all possible. There are plenty of options when it comes to temporary symptom relief. That’s largely what the practice of medicine is about, especially when it comes to Chronic Stress, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Fibromyalgia.
Those are largely ignored and very poorly addressed by the practice of medicine. They either do not understand how those conditions come about or lack any drug that comes close to offering long term relief.
I happen to believe that there are a couple of commonalities in most illnesses and diseases. Let’s use Chronic Stress, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and Fibromyalgia as examples.
Before we move on, here’s a post I did: Roadmap to Overcoming Chronic Pain and Fatigue.
Here is a list of symptoms that are common among those 3 seemingly unrelated conditions:
- Fatigue
- Sleep Problems
- Headaches
- Anxiety
- Digestion Issues
- Difficulty Concentrating
- Muscle or Joint Pain
My more than 35 years of clinical experience tells me that the single factor involved in almost every health challenge is stress. The Mayo Clinic reports that a few of the consequences of long term stress are:
- Anxiety & Depression
- Digestive Problems
- Headaches
- Muscle Tension & Pain
- Sleep Problems
- Heart Disease
- Heart Attack
- High Blood Pressure
- Stroke
The only major symptoms missing from the top list are fatigue and difficulty concentrating. Those are pretty natural consequences of sleep problems.
Here’s another blog post I did on stress: The Four Essential Components to a Successful Chronic Stress Treatment Program.
The Problem Isn’t Stress!
I know I just said that the common factor is stress! But, that really isn’t the problem and that’s a good thing since we have little control over the vast majority of stress in our lives. The real problem is how our brain and nervous system responds to stress.
I’m not going to get into detail on what stress is as I’ve covered that numerous times in other posts. Stress activates the Sympathetic “Fight-or-Flight” Nervous System. This is the part of the nervous system whose primary role is to ensure survival. Consequently, its actions are to prioritize activities that might be essential to fight for our lives or flee for survival.
This is a partial list of what the Sympathetic System does:
- Increases blood flow and tension to our muscles
- Increases stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline
- Increases inflammation
- Interrupts digestion
- Interrupts quality sleep
- Increases heart rate and blood pressure
This is not a problem if it happens occasionally and we return to a state of balance. But, modern life results in almost continual activation of the Sympathetic System. Over time the Sympathetic System takes over and we live in a near constant state of Sympathetic activation.
This activation of the Sympathetic System results in the turning down of the Vagus Nerve of the Parasympathetic Nervous System. The Vagus Nerve is responsible for:
- Lowered healthy heart rate and blood pressure
- Healthy digestion
- Reduced muscle tension and pain
- Lowered inflammation
- Healthy Immune function
- Healthy sleep
- Rest and recovery
It’s easy to see how chronic overactivation of the Sympathetic System coupled with lowered Vagus Nerve activity leads to the development of chronic issues. Hopefully, it is also a little more evident how very different conditions like chronic stress, chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia might be more alike than different.
So, what are the factors in successfully overcoming Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia? Let’s explore…
3 Factors in Successfully Overcoming Chronic Fatigue and Fibromyalgia
The key in Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and Chronic Stress is how your brain and nervous system responds to the stress of your life. As I’ve stated the stress is not going away so the only workable solution is to shift how you respond to the stress.
Critical Factor #1: Correct Structural Imbalances. If your structure is out of balance it puts added stress and tension on your nervous system. Your brain is continually striving for balance. When the effort to restore balance creates an imbalance in the very top of the neck it puts pressure on the brain stem. This further accentuates the imbalance in the Autonomic Nervous System.
Check yourself out by standing in front of a bathroom or full length mirror. Close your eyes and nod yes and no a couple of times. Open your eyes and look in the mirror at your ear lobes or corners of your eyes. Is one side higher than the other?
Have someone else put their hands on top of your pelvis from behind. Is one side higher than the other?
Critical Factor #2: Remove Tension and Pressure from the Autonomic Nervous System: Correcting structural imbalances by returning you to balance will accomplish some of this. Further specific attention needs to be directed to the upper neck, lower neck, and the pelvis to free tension from the Vagus Nerve. The mid and low back, especially the rib joints are key in reducing irritation to the Sympathetic System.
As a chiropractor this is my focus. If you are looking for a chiropractor make sure to find someone whose focus is corrective care. This is not something you will get with patch or relief care.
Critical Factor #3: Activate the Vagus Nerve. Long term stress has the effect of reducing the activity and strength of the Vagus Nerve. In order to return the Autonomic Nervous System to a state of healthy balance you must exercise or activate the Vagus Nerve on a regular basis. It has likely taken you years, perhaps decades of accumulated stress to reach this point. It’s unreasonable to expect a return to balance in a few weeks.
The first two factors will greatly help the Vagus Nerve by removing pressure, tension, and interference that is compromising its function but you must still activate consistently. There are a number of ways to activate the Vagus Nerve including:
- Body movement that is calming
- Time in nature
- Human Touch
- Gargling and Humming
- Conscious Breathwork
I encourage people to identify all the methods that feel good to them. I find that breathwork is a universal strategy that is powerful and effective. It can be easily learned and done anywhere.
Make sure to subscribe to my social media pages where I regularly post valuable information.
Facebook: Life Chiropractic Facebook
YouTube: Life Chiropractic YouTube
Instagram: Life Chiropractic Instagram
For more information and resources visit my website: Life Chiropractic