Stress Kills and You Are Working My Last Nerve!

Are you approaching a nervous breakdown?! Stressed out? Do the smallest things set you off? Feel like you are constantly under pressure? Are you losing sleep and not eating properly? Do you drive in New Jersey? The point is, you can not avoid it. Stress will find you and stress always results in illness. When we speak of a “nervous breakdown” or being “shot out”, we are referring to a complete breakdown of our nervous system. Stress causes headaches, ulcers, heart disease, instant heart attacks, and numerous other ailments and diseases. Stress attacks the areas of your body that are weak due to previous injury or where you are genetically pre-disposed.

3 Types of Stress
Stress is defined by Wikipedia as ‘the consequences of the failure of a human body to respond appropriately to emotional or physical threats, whether actual or imagined. It is the autonomic response to environmental stimulus.’

1) Physical Stress – This comes from taxing the body. Lifting heavy objects, poor posture while working, running a marathon and the weekend warrior are all examples of physical stress to the body.

2) Mental Stress – If you have a spouse, kids, a job, or are currently breathing, you have mental stress. This is the area of stress that people need to make sure they keep in check and manage properly. Without the proper outlet, mental stress can consume a person from the inside out and have disastrous effects. There have been too many examples of people exhibiting road rage, and climbing bell towers from being over stressed. Most importantly, long standing mental stress will result in sickness and disease.

3) Chemical Stress – This is the most overlooked source of stress. Chemical stress comes from drugs, alcohol, prescription medication and eating the wrong foods. All of which have side effects that result in chemical imbalances in the body. It is amazing how your body will perform when given the right fuel. As we all have a Mercedes Benz for a body, we should be feeding our bodies premium unleaded fuel. We do not run properly on regular unleaded, diesel, or kerosene fuel.

Fight or Flight
When our body is confronted with stress, the “fight or flight” response of our nervous system is activated. The hypothalamus signals the adrenal glands to produce the hormones adrenaline and cortisol which speed up heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, and metabolism. Muscles contract and are put on alert, and pupils dilate to improve vision. The liver releases some of its stored glucose to increase the body’s energy, and sweat is produced to cool the body. The body is now ready to either fight or flight.

Examples of events that cause immediate acute stress and fight or flight reactions are when you nearly avoid having a car accident on HWY 35, or are about to step up to the podium to deliver a speech. I remember scaring another doctor one morning in the office when no one was there. He was brushing his teeth over the sink in the x-ray room and didn’t hear me come in. I’ll never forget the look of horror as toothpaste ran down his face and he turned to stab me with his tooth brush. Long term chronic stress comes from coping with long standing events like going thru a divorce or constant work stress. This results in immune system exhaustion and causes illness. When this happens, the Nervous System senses continued stress and pressure and pumps out extra stress hormones over an extended period of time. The number one reason for adrenal gland malfunction and exhaustion comes from too much stress and too much coffee.

How to Manage? D R E A M
Yes, once again, the answer is Diet, Rest, Exercise, Adjustments and a positive Mental Attitude!!

DIET – Bad food contributes to stress. I see this everyday with my two kids. Grandma will feed them tons of sugar and then I come home to find the girls either bouncing off the walls or miserably cranky after crashing from their sugar high. Good, wholesome foods that are not processed or refined and are free from Trans fats and prevent our energy levels from peaking and crashing throughout the day. As a rule of thumb, food that was around in caveman days (when there were no factories) is good for you. When you are able to identify where a food came from such as apples, nuts, and carrots then chances are they are ok. Remember, there is no Dorito Tree.

REST – Getting enough sleep helps keep your body and mind in top shape, making you better equipped to deal with any negative stressors. Most of your healing and repair takes place when you are sleeping. This is when the body recharges its battery. If you continue to deprive your body of sleep, your immune system breaks down and you get sick. It is recommended that individuals get 6-8 hours of uninterrupted deep sleep per night.

EXERCISE – Exercise is THE greatest stress buster. Regular exercise can change your life! A study conducted at Harvard University concluded that brisk walking at least 30 minutes a day could reduce the incidence of breast cancer in women by as much as 70%. A California State University study found that a 10 minute walk is enough to increase energy, alter mood, and provide a positive outlook on life for up to 2 hours. Exercise also helps regulate your mood, helps you sleep more soundly and helps erase the little mistakes in our diet! For help getting started, call Focus Fitness—where we specialize in personal attention and goal attainment: 732.935.1000.

ADJUSTMENTS – Ever have a pebble in your shoe? Initially, you notice a slight irritation. Then minutes later, the irritation becomes an annoyance and then finally, pain becomes so overwhelming that you MUST do something. The pebble causes pressure on a nerve which results in the irritation and pain. Chiropractors locate and remove the pressure put on your nerves. The immune system fixes problems throughout the body using the spinal cord as a telephone system between your brain and the rest of your body. However, in order to function properly, it is important that an open, clear phone line exists on the Nervous System, (telephone cord). Your heart, liver, kidneys, lungs and all your other organs can only communicate to your brain and immune system through the nerves (telephone wires) that innervate them. Chiropractic adjustments to the spinal column relieve the pressure of choked or pinched nerves caused by rotated vertebra. Since each bone in your spine is a freely moveable joint and we humans do crazy things and put ourselves in crazy positions, our vertebra rotate in and out of position all the time. You need to make sure that there is no interference on your phone line. Imagine living your entire life in a room where the lights are only on part of the way up a dimmer switch, when suddenly, you are totally amazed when a guest in your home turns the lights all the way up. This is what a chiropractic adjustment does. It is an increase in vitality and clarity, a clear telephone line! Anyone who has teeth should see a dentist; anyone with a spine should see a chiropractor. Do you have to? No, but think about how much more productive you’ll be when the lights are fully on!

MENTAL ATTITUDE – Film footage exists of monks sitting unclothed in sub zero weather in the Himalayan Mountains of Nepal sweating as they meditate. Their power of mind over matter is so powerful that they are able to regulate their body temperature and sweat instead of freeze. Hindu and Buddhist monks believe that happiness relies solely in our minds and not in our external surroundings. With this theory in mind, your mental attitude affects your health. Ever know a miserable person? A person who is always saying that they are getting sick or coming down with something? A person who drains you of all your energy? What happens to these people? They get sick! The point is, if you think that you are sick and miserable, you will be sick and miserable. A positive outlook on life tends to leave you with, well, a positive outlook on life! Try to look at the glass as half full. Watch what you’re thinking. Your outlook, attitude, and thoughts influence the way you see things. Is your cup half full or half empty? A healthy dose of optimism can help you make the best of stressful circumstances. Even if you’re out of practice, or tend to be a bit of a pessimist, everyone can learn to be more optimistic. Learn to think of challenges as opportunities and stressors as temporary problems, not disasters. Make time for relaxation. Be optimistic. Believe in yourself. Be sure to breathe. And let a little stress motivate you into positive action to reach your goals.

Stress is like a snowball. If you let it roll, it will gain speed, momentum and weight until you are over reacting making even small difficulties seem like major crisis. Take control! Only you yourself can prevent stress from spinning out of control. For example, rush hour traffic can either make you crazy with stress resulting in road rage, or you can make use of the extra time in the car by listening to a self improvement CD. You can take the time to sit quietly and breath. You can process your day. You are unable to control the traffic, but you can control your response to it. Take control, because if you don’t, stress will devastate you, and you will get sick and develop disease.

At Garden State Spine & Pain institute, we are professional stress busters! The combination of deep tissue manual therapy in Physical Therapy, the removal of chocked nerves from Chiropractic, and the mental release of anxiety associated with an Acupuncture treatment all result in significantly decreased stress levels. Come into our pleasant, friendly office. Sit in a massage chair. Have some popcorn and let our experts and specialists allow you to destress!