4 Ways Chiropractic Can Help You De-Stress This Holiday Season
(Ghostwritten article shared here with written permission of client)
It’s no secret that the holidays are a stressful time of year. During the holiday season, we find ourselves adding so much to our already full plates. Our kids have holiday plays and recitals. We have company parties to attend and friends and family to host. Self-care usually shifts to the back burner.
All of this stress takes a toll on us, physically and mentally!
Most of us probably don't associate chiropractic with mental healthcare, even though we know that when we feel better physically, we also feel better mentally. Chiropractic provides relief from stress and anxiety by taking the pressure off overloaded parts of the body, including our joints, muscles, and nervous system.
Read on to learn more about the top four ways chiropractic can help you feel better and relieve stress this holiday season!
1. Chiropractic Helps Your Body Regulate Cortisol
Cortisol is known as the stress hormone. Produced by the body's adrenal glands, cortisol regulates blood sugar, metabolism, and immune responses in the body. It also plays a major role in our “fight or flight” response to stressors.
Living perpetually with stress sends the body’s cortisol production into overdrive, which results in a host of issues, including anxiety, depression, and exhaustion. Chiropractic adjustments send a message to your brain to calm down and ease up on cortisol production.
With chiropractic care to help keep our cortisol levels in check, we see improvements in many of our typical stress responses, including decreased cravings for sugar and salt (especially important around the holidays!), better focus, less fatigue, and improved circulation.
2. Chiropractic Supports Good Sleep
When we get stressed out, our sleep quality usually suffers first. And we don't need to tell you how vital good sleep is to overall health. Studies have even shown that heart attack and stroke risk increases during daylight savings time, and that's the effect of only losing an hour! Imagine the impact of chronic insomnia on our health!
Misalignment often results in discomfort that makes us toss and turn in the night and prevents us from getting deep, restful REM sleep. Chiropractic adjustments focusing on the neck and spine help alleviate sleep-disrupting discomfort.
3. Chiropractic Improves Blood Pressure
We know that stress directly impacts our blood pressure by sending it soaring to unhealthy levels. What you might not know is that chiropractic adjustments can lower blood pressure. Chiropractic techniques cause the body to release endorphins, our natural “feel good” hormones, which help lower blood pressure.
If you’re wary of relying on prescription medications alone, the “Atlas Adjustment” is a great tool for lowering high blood pressure. One study even found that this technique alone was as effective as taking two blood pressure medications!
4. Chiropractic Eases Pain and Muscle Tension
By now we’ve all heard about the negative effects of prescription painkillers. Many folks want to avoid pain medications whenever possible, and chiropractic offers an excellent, holistic option for tension and pain.
Remember the endorphins we talked about earlier? In addition to anxiety and stress-relieving properties, these also have pain-relieving properties. In fact, one study found that folks who opted for chiropractic care for their pain were 55% less likely to seek out prescriptions for opioid painkillers!
At Anonymous Chiropractic Group, we understand the physical and mental toll stress can take on us, especially during the holidays. We’d love to schedule a consultation with you to discuss how chiropractic can benefit you. Give yourself and your loved ones the gift of wellness for 2022!
Interested in learning more about how our chiropractors can help you alleviate stress? Simply fill out the form below, and a member of our team will be in touch!