Work, Family Finances and Stress

Feeling stressed out?  Welcome to America!  It is not unusual that people have a lot of stress in their lives. Everything from work, family, to finances and other obligations can have a huge impact on how you feel not only emotionally but also physically.  Interestingly, it is intriguing how learning that stress has wide ranging effects on the human body still surprises many people.  

It has been known for a long time that stress can cause physiologic changes resulting in dangerous conditions including higher blood pressure, increased blood sugar, increased cholesterol, increase in the hormone cortisol, and the resultant increase in abdominal fat caused by increased cortisol levels.  Many people feel the effects of stress as increased tension in their neck and upper back areas.

We Face Stress in Life 

Episodes of stress can either resolve quickly or they may become chronic. Your body perceives stress as anything causing a dump of adrenaline. Such a sudden increase in adrenaline may occur from your alarm clock going off each morning or rushing to get out of your house as you scurry to work. A person’s response to these adrenaline dumps is dependent on your individual make up, genetics, life experiences, and personal behaviors. Habits such as a poor diet, smoking, consuming alcohol or caffeine, and lack of exercise can all effect how your body handles stress.  

If a stressful situation is allowed to continue for an extended period of time it results in chronic stress where your body continues to respond as if stress were present even though the stressful episode has passed. Chronic stress may give rise to insulin resistance, heart disease, memory loss, immune system dysfunction, decreased bone density, and misalignment of the vertebrae in your spine.  

Chiropractic Care can Help Relieve Some of the Stress Caused by Your Body

Stress affects your body by causing misalignments in your spine known in the chiropractic field as subluxations. Chiropractic adjusting helps normalize the motion of individual vertebrae thereby relieving nerve interference so the stress cannot create havoc in your body’s organs and systems. In other words, chiropractic care “heads off stress at the pass” so it cannot manifest its detrimental effects allowing your body to return to a more normal, healthful state.

Why do I have Back Pain?

One of the most common questions heard in any chiropractic office is, "Why do I have back pain?"  While there are many answers to this question the bottom line is that each individual is responsible for their back pain by virtue of what they do or do not do while conducting everyday activities. One of the most important factors is a lack of proper physical conditioning that benefits the human spine.

Most people tend to exercise haphazardly (if they exercise at all) and they do so without warming up properly.  A major problem is that people allow themselves to gain too much weight, ride rather then walk, and slump on soft sofas and chairs.  They subject their backs to unnecessary twists and turns by lifting incorrectly and carrying things improperly.

Tremendous Pressure on Your Back can Lead to Pain 

 The pressure and stress on our backs is tremendous.  Standing exerts 100 pounds of pressure per square inch on the lower spine.  Sitting exerts 120 pounds per square inch on the lower spine. Even everyday activities such as sneezing and/or coughing can put a great amount of pressure onto your lower back.

Rules to Avoid Increased Pressure on Your Back 

 A few of the basic rules for avoiding increased pressure on your back includes maintaining the natural curves of your spine, always bend your knees when bending or lifting, avoid twisting from your torso, and have regular chiropractic check-ups to assure your spine is moving correctly.  

A small amount of preventive care can help you avoid a much bigger problem later.

Exercise and Stay Healthy

"I used to be able to do that when I was your age."

It's a phrase you've probably heard a lot of times, and may have said more times than you'd like to admit.  Aging can be hard to accept. As we age, our bodies make it easier to store fat while we start to lose muscle. Aches and pains that didn't exist 10 years ago occur more frequently.

But it doesn't have to be that way. We're all going to go downhill someday, it’s a fact of life, but why go without a fight? With the proper exercise your prime fitness years could be ahead of you. No matter what age you are you can get stronger.  

Strength is Related to Longevity

Stronger people tend to live the longest so being even a little stronger is always better regardless of your age.

Strength training can help address most of the major problems that sneak up on us as we get older. The average person will lose about one percent of their total muscle mass per year, starting in middle age. With muscle loss you can expect thickening of your tendons and ligaments, a lessening of the strength of your bones, and a decrease in the number of muscle fibers you can call upon when you need to use them.

The Key is to Focus on Total Body Strength

You have to train intelligently while focusing on increasing your stability and mobility along with increasing your total body strength. It’s important to concentrate on building strength which comes from lifting weights. That means weight lifting is important for women as well as men.  

When exercising you need to push yourself so you exercise all muscles of your body and not just the muscles you enjoy exercising. First, work on your "core" muscles of your abdomen and low back.  These are the muscles you use every day, all day long.  Follow this by exercising your shoulders, hips, and legs.

Lift Weights in a Functional Position

Once you become more comfortable with the weights try lifting them in a functional position such as standing.  Most people sit too much which can lead to lower back problems. Standing helps reduce this risk plus you are engaging core muscles to maintain your balance and posture making these types of exercises more beneficial. 

Stop Smoking to Save Your Back

It is being reported that back pain may be another consequence of smoking tobacco that has been demonstrated in a number of studies. The studies are showing that people who smoke have a higher incidence of low back pain. Back pain and smoking are both being identified as being public health priorities.

Approximately 22 million people in the U.S. suffer from back pain while 20% of the adult population smokes.

Free smoking cessation programs are available from the Centers for Disease Control available at www.cdc.gov/tobacco.

Quitting smoking is a modifiable habit that may help prevent or improve back pain. That means healthier people, less people suffering from back pain, and many more productive lives preserved and enjoyed.

Chronic Inflammation

Do you suffer from aches and pains? Are your joints puffy, bloated or swollen? Do you experience stiffness? If you have any of these symptoms, you could be at risk for chronic inflammation. The good news is you don’t have to live with pain. Learn a little about the good and bad sides of inflammation as well as how to prevent and reduce it through simple nutrition and lifestyle changes.

About Inflammation

A normally functioning immune system responds to harmful substances, irritants, infections and injury by instituting inflammation and other processes. Inflammation is actually a healthy and normal response for bodily repair. Redness, swelling, heat, itching, and pain are all signs inflammation is doing its job by sending antibodies to heal the damaged area.

Problem

Problems occur when inflammation becomes chronic as a result of being untreated. Most people seek quick relief in pills like Advil, Tylenol or Ibuprofen masking pain and preventing healing by disabling the body’s ability to detoxify, repair, and protect itself. With additional side effects caused by these drugs these well-meaning people often do more harm than good.

Chronic inflammation not only affects your daily performance but damages surrounding organs and tissues contributing to degenerative diseases like arthritis, heart disease, stroke, obesity, cancer, and possibly even Alzheimer’s. Chronic inflammation can also result in an increase in LDL (bad) cholesterol. You may be surprised to find out that LDL cholesterol does not increase in response to the number of eggs you eat but in response to the amount of inflammatory foods consumed. Experiment and see for yourself!

Solution

Start healing! Pain is present and being felt for a reason. Don’t ignore it but rather get rid of it for good. Get to the root of the problem by making simple nutrition and lifestyle changes. You’ll increase the nutrients in your diet, lower LDL (bad) cholesterol, strengthen your immune system, prevent disease, and even reduce body fat!

Nutrition

Avoid foods high in refined carbohydrates and  excess omega-6 essential fatty acids.

Eat anti-inflammatory foods like green leafy vegetables including kale, collards, spinach, and mustard greens along with with Omega-3 rich wild fish such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, tuna, and halibut. Spice up your foods with garlic, ginger, curry, chili peppers, rosemary, onions, scallions, leeks, chives, and shallots.   

Fermented foods such as yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut will add to your anti-inflammatory diet.

Always drink filtered water (which helps detoxify the body), take cod liver oil (essential fatty acids), probiotics (for gut health and immunity), turmeric and bromelain (which offers joint support).

Make lifestyle changes taking long, easy walks for exercise and to relieve stress and tension. Sleep more to give your body the rest it needs to heal and repair itself and see your doctor to be tested for C-reactive protein which is indicative of inflammation within your body. You can use this simple test to see the results of your anti-inflammatory diet and lifestyle.