Countering Stress

No matter what walk of life we come from, stress can have a significant impact on your life and health.

Whether a working professional, young mum, farmer, student, unemployed or unwell, we all experience daily stress.

Small amounts are actually normal and healthy, and ideally short term. On a basic level stress is designed to keep us safe. It is the fight and flight response that was designed to help us survive and recover in dangerous, life-threatening situations.

The stress response is a short-term strategy in the body. In response to threat the heart rate increases, muscles contract, digestion stops, fertility stops, the immune system is on high alert, the adrenal glands are called in to produce adrenaline and cortisol and the body is flooded with stimulating hormones. During this response it is normal and natural to feel fearful and anxious.

But when the stressful stimulus is constant, stress becomes chronic and its action long term can affect the body in many ways.

Symptoms

Symptoms of chronic stress include headaches, body aches and pain, chronic pain, joint inflammation and general fatigue.  A loss of sleep, irritability and anxiety, mood disorders, digestive issues, loss of appetite or overeating, gut inflammation, infertility and a dysregulated immune system.

Building stress relief into your daily routine can help you to stay healthy in body, mind and spirit. 

Drink water, eat well, exercise and rest. Get yourself out into nature, go for walks, be with pets or friends.

Notice and soak in the simple, good things that you love: autumn leaves, sunshine, the sound of rain, bird songs or the smile of a stranger.

Chiropractic care can help alleviate some of the symptoms associated with stress and re-set the nervous system to create the opportunity in the body for healing, rest and balance.

For further information contact Marg Peck (0429 999 255) or Emily Wilson (Galbraith) (0447 668 775), chiropractors at Healing Well in Castlemaine.