Discover The top 4 Critical Ways Chiropractic Relieves Tension

Are you experiencing stress and tension? One really fascinating aspect of stress or tension or anxiety or worry is that it creeps up on you. In the beginning of the buildup of stress or tension it actually feels good. 

Stress can be energizing, focusing, and help you be productive. Our entire society is built on stress. It’s how business works. Let’s look at an example.

We’ll use a man since men are more likely than women to deny stress, but the same holds true for women. A man enters corporate America in his 20s and climbs his way up the corporate ladder. 

He’s productive and from all appearances very successful. You know the trappings..house, car, vacations, fine dining, etc. He’s a portrait of the American Dream. But, then he hits his 50s and his health starts to erode. It could be any range of challenges from….

  • High Blood Pressure
  • Acid Reflux
  • Heart Disease
  • Heart Attack
  • Insomnia
  • Etc. 

The very same stress and tension that energized him for years ends up being the primary cause of his suddenly declining health. 

Our medical system will tell you this is “normal” but it is not! It might be average but it is in no way normal. 

It is not “normal” to have to rely on multiple medications for your body to function anywhere close to how it is intended. I have patients in their latter 60s and into their 70s who are not on any medication. That is normal!

How Stress and Tension Impacts Us

Are you aware that Medical Research has estimated that as much as 90% of all illness is stress-related? Stress affects how your body works. The leading cause of death, heart disease, is linked to stress.

Chronic stress over activates the pathway connecting the Nervous System and Immune System resulting in chronic low grade systemic inflammation. This has been linked to almost every disease state. 

So, how does stress do all this?

You have two very different divisions of your nervous system that are responsible for your health and survival. Let’s take a look at them:

  • Vagus Nerve of the Parasympathetic Nervous System: the Vagus Nerve has been called the highway to wellness. It supports all of the body processes that you would associate with robust health and well-being like:
  • Rest and Recovery
  • Healing
  • Healthy Immune Response
  • Healthy Digestion
  • Lowered Heart Rate and Blood Pressure
  • Deep Restorative Sleep
  • Lowered Inflammation

As you might guess, the long term impact of stress or tension is a lowering of the activity of the Vagus Nerve. We’ll see shortly how that happens.

  • Sympathetic “Fight-or-Flight: Nervous System: the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) is that part of our nervous system whose primary overriding objective is survival. How does it do that?

The SNS mobilizes the body’s resources in preparation to “fight” or “flee” for our survival in the presence of a threat. This is why the corporate ladder climber did so well for so long. He used the resources of his body to accomplish things in business. 

This worked exceedingly well back in human history when we routinely encountered real threats to our survival. Things like sleep, digestion, rest, recovery, and healing are not priorities if you might not survive until tomorrow. 

Here’s a related post of mine: How to Dramatically Reduce Stress

And, another: The Vagus Nerve: How to Unlock Your Health Potential

The Stress of Modern Life

Our modern world is filled with stimuli, events, and triggers that are “new” to the human nervous system. Think about how much the world has changed in the last 200 years and then consider that it takes thousands of years for the human nervous system to adapt to change. 

The result is that many daily “normal” events of modern life repeatedly activate the Sympathetic Nervous System. The more it gets activated the easier it is to activate. And, the more the SNS is activated the more it suppresses the function of the Vagus Nerve. 

Most of us eventually live in a state of “Sympathetic Dominance” that impairs many of the vital functions of the Vagus Nerve. 

This is THE link between the stress of life and the decline of health, vitality, and well-being.

Hopefully you are wondering about the link between Chiropractic and this stress of modern life.

Top 4 Ways Chiropractic Relieves Stress and Tension

In the discussion above about stress and its impact on the body, the focus was on the nervous system. The brain and spinal cord are responsible for how you respond to those events, people, and situations that “trigger” the stress response. 

Since you have little control over how our world works we need to look elsewhere. Let’s look at how you can change how your nervous system responds and reacts to all those triggers. 

#1: Return to Balance – the human nervous system is working 24/7 to maintain balance in the body. When we are referring to physiology and biochemistry we call this balance homeostasis. The body strives for balance as this is where everything works best. Your body functions most efficiently and is able to recover, repair, and heal from the daily challenges of life.

When your structure becomes imbalanced it puts additional stress on the nervous system in an effort to maintain as much balance as possible. This stress reduces how well the nervous system functions.

The most obvious indicators of imbalance can be easily identified. The pelvis, shoulders and head will often be unlevel when viewed from the front or back. The pelvis can be easily checked by having someone get behind you while standing and put each hand on top of your pelvis on each side. 

Imbalance in the pelvis increases tension through the entire spine and nervous system, and often does not cause pain. And, when there are symptoms they are just as likely to be in the neck as they are in the low back or pelvis. 

#2: Spinal & Pelvic Joint Motion – The joints of the spine and pelvis are there to provide movement. They are rich in nerve fibers and when the joints lose full motion it causes a series of adaptations and compensations:

  • Muscle tightness and spasm
  • Joint inflammation
  • Pain
  • Development of degenerative arthritis

Restoring proper motion to the joints of the pelvis and spine is key to releasing stored tension from the body. When motion is restored there is often an immediate feeling of release and relaxation. 

#3: Upper Cervical Spine – The upper cervical spine is unique for a number of reasons. The 11 lb head sits on top of the upper neck and any alteration of the position of the head on the C1 vertebra can greatly increase the stress to the small muscles and joints of the cervical spine.

The brain stem sits in the very top of the cervical spine and controls the unconscious functions of the body. Irritation to the brain stem often causes increased muscle tension and spasm, disturbed sleep, and generalized tension.

#4: Vagus Nerve Activation – After removing tension and interference from the spine and the autonomic nervous system it is important to activate the Vagus Nerve. With chronic overactivation of the “fight-or-flight” nervous system the Vagus Nerve is suppressed in its activity. Like a muscle that hasn’t been used in a while, the Vagus Nerve needs to be activated. 

This is done in a variety of ways. In my practice I always use conscious breathwork to help restore proper tone to the Vagus Nerve. 

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