Chiropractor for Stress and Anxiety
Do you find yourself unable to relax? Are you in a constant fight or flight mode? Or is your blood pressure at a constant high? You could be under a lot of stress and/or anxiety.
Here at Shakti Chiro located in Vaughan, Dr. Rogini is a skilled expert in treating patients who are stressed or anxious from all aspects of life. How do our bodies react when we are stressed? In our brain, the hypothalamus, which acts like your body’s thermostat, sets off an alert in your body. This cascade effect alerts your adrenal glands to release hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline is the hormone that increases your heart rate and blood pressure, while cortisol is the stress hormone that releases stored glucose and raises blood sugar.
Yes, stress can be good for you short-term in order to increase your energy and motivation, however high levels can be detrimental to your health which can lead to anxiety over time. We offer holistic chiropractic care in order to bring you back up not only for your spine health, but for your entire well-being to fight that stress away.
What are symptoms of stress/anxiety?
As we go through everyday life changes and routines, there are always uncertainties or fears that may trigger your stress and anxiety. You may feel the following symptoms when stressed:
- Easily irritated/angry
- Uninterested in life or in hobbies that you enjoyed before
- Depressed
- Constant worrying/dread
- Anxious or nervous, always in a panic mode
- Never relaxed, feeling restless and having trouble closing your eyes
- Uninterested to do basic activities, such as eating, sleeping, focusing on work, doing chores, socializing with others
With stress/anxiety comes with different physical symptoms that affect your body, including:
- Headache
- Nausea
- Muscle tightness
- Fatigue
- Problems with sleeping (insomnia)
- Increased heart rate
- Feeling “frozen”
- Heart palpitations
- Sweating/chills or shaking in your hands
- Eye twitching
- Shortness of breath
- Weight gain/weight loss
- Sensory overload: When your brain is overloaded with information from your environment or any external stimuli
- Suppressed immune system
- Brain fog
What causes stress/anxiety?
There isn’t one exact cause that leads to feeling stressed or anxious, but rather it originates from a series of events in your life that we need to trace back. A combination of factors play a role in stress/anxiety that impacts your physical and emotional well being. A couple of them include:
- Your environment: Who or what do you surround yourself with that triggers your stress whenever you are in close proximity? Perhaps you are constantly allowing yourself to absorb negative and fearful media on the news, or are not allowing yourself to rest due to working overtime.
- Hormonal imbalance: anxiety disrupts the proper hormonal balance in the body and is constantly triggering the body’s fight-or-flight response. High levels of cortisol play a factor into feeling anxious or stressed, not allowing yourself to feel calm. Other hormones that could cause imbalances are adrenaline, sex hormones (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone), thyroid hormones (-hyper or -hypothyroidism), and oxytocin (also known as the love hormone).
- Improper diet: a lack of nutrients in your body can cause physical reactions that impact your mood and ability to make decisions. Foods with additional additives and junk can contribute or aggravate your stress and anxiety, causing brain fog and having less motivation to exercise or have a consistent sleep schedule. You probably have heard the term “stress-eating”. This happens when cortisol increases your appetite and may cause you to overeat. Ingesting foods that are high in fiber and vitamins allow you to feel full quickly, boost your energy, and can help reduce stress-eating, therefore reducing a negative impact on your body.
- Hypertension: high blood pressure can develop over many years and can be elevated through plaque buildup in the arteries (atherosclerosis)
- Poor posture: having a forward head carriage or rounded shoulders can increase shortness of breath and cause anxiety attacks. This can also occur if your spine is curved due to poor posture.
Finding solutions to relieve stress/anxiety
At Shakti Chiro, Dr. Rogini prioritizes finding the root cause of your condition to live a fulfilling and healthy life. It is her duty as a Chiropractor to assess where your spine is subluxated and she will develop a personalized treatment plan to release tension and allow the spine to send proper signals to your brain. As we know, the central nervous system (CNS) is highly intelligent and responsible for how your body responds to stress. Your brain is an effective communicator to send chemical responses to the hormones and the rest of the body, this is why it is important to treat your spine so it is able to send those positive signals to the brain. After every spinal adjustment, the pathways of the nervous system are opened to restore alignment, allowing you to function properly.
The hippocampus, the segment of the brain that is responsible for memory and learning, plays a big role in stress/anxiety. When there are elevated levels of cortisol in your blood, the harder it is to retain memory signals and decrease your learning experience.
With a proper treatment plan, you will be getting consistent spinal adjustments by Dr. Rogini to help reduce those cortisol levels so that you can live optimally and reduce personal triggers. In turn, chiropractic care increases your dopamine levels, the hormone that is in charge of your feelings of pleasure and happiness.
What makes a Holistic Chiropractor different?:
To supplement chiropractic adjustments and maintain your spine health, Dr. Rogini, a Holistic Chiropractor, focuses on the root problems of your stress and anxiety to better your daily habits and lifestyle choices. It is important to understand where your anxiety is coming from and to become self aware of your habitual choices when overcome with stress.
Here at Shakti Chiro you will be given your Chiropractic care plan to help restore motion into your spine. Additionally, you may be given some recommended stretches and exercises that best suit your concerns, to increase circulation into the body and promote muscle relaxation.
Dr. Rogini shares many methods that can manage your stress levels, such as proper deep breathing exercises, self-care routines, and empowering self-talks that can promote a sense of calmness, confidence, and rejuvenation to improve your health.
Book an appointment online today or call us at 905-553-0397 to address your spinal needs and start your wellness journey with Dr. Rogini! We can’t wait to see you soon.