There are THREE main stresses that the body undergoes that can cause the nerve flow to be partially blocked or impeded: Physical stress, Chemical stress and Emotional stress. Chiropractic is a way to allow nerve interferences (subluxations) to cease and proper movement, co-ordination and nerve flow (the messages sent to our bodies that allow us to function each day) to occur, through regular Chiropractic adjustments. But many people still want to know WHY they’re not getting better, despite healthy eating, regular exercise and even taking classes such as yoga and pilates.

I am often asked, “what causes those interferences in the first place?” and “why can’t one or two treatments fix the spine once and for all?”

When looking at causes of subluxations due to stress here are the big three is further detail:

Physical Stress: This is the type of stress caused by the physical things we do to our body, or don’t do, in the case of lack of physical activity. Our bodies were designed to move and when we don’t get enough exercise or do enough stretches, this can cause our muscles to tense up and our spinal bones (vertebrae) to move out of their normal alignment and become “stuck” (subluxated). This in turn causes an interruption to our nerves and their ability to send the correct messages through out the body or in other cases send the messages of pain and irritation.

The same things occur when we have a physical stress placed on the body in the case of sitting too long at work, having a fall, doing lots of exercise and not stretching properly, lifting heavy items and many more things.

Chemical Stress: This type of stress is based on what we put into our bodies through food and drink, as well as the chemicals within the environment around us (cigarette smoke, traffic pollution, the environment we work in, etc.). These chemical stresses may not have an effect on the body straight away or even be visible for all to see, but even on a cellular level they are causing changes to our bodies and how we deal with other stresses that come our way (physical and emotional).

Emotional Stress: This stress type is often the easiest one we ignore. Stress of work, family life, finances, relationship breakdowns, studying… the list can be endless as to what causes emotional stress. Sometimes we are unaware of what’s causing the stress on a conscious level but our bodies still are impacted by the constant thoughts running through our minds, the tension in our muscles that cause movement of spinal vertebrae (which in turn can cause nerve interferences) and our overall outlook on life. Not only can Chiropractic treatments help with the tension caused by emotional stress and correct the subluxations that in turn have occurred, but it can also look at ways to help reduce the different emotional stresses and how to cope with them.

Some of us may feel that we handle all three areas really well; we eat healthy, exercise regularly and don’t have any major stress emotionally. Those people are more likely to need simple Chiropractic maintenance care, where their spines are checked once a month or so to make sure there are no nerve interferences occurring.

Others may have one or two areas of stress that they feel they are unable to handle well, causing different nerve interferences and overall many different health issues; these people may need to work on the different areas that their bodies struggle with so as to stop there being nerve interferences and therefore the outcomes of pain, irritation, muscle weakness, tiredness, and many other health concerns.

It is important to note that these nerve interferences have not happened over night and in fact for many people have taken awhile to get to the point of causing health issues. It can then be said that the interferences may take awhile be corrected through Chiropractic care, depending on each individual person and how they respond to the Chiropractic treatments they receive.

We also have different things that can affect us at different times so please remember to not to be hard on ourselves if we do need more care at times than others; the Three Stresses may occur at any time, any place, so check out now how Chiropractic treatments can help you and your family today.

Dr Jessica Oakes (Chiropractor)