Understanding Stress

Understanding Stress

Stress is something that we all talk about and experience but don’t really understand……… or want to. Most people don’t want to talk, much less learn, about stress and it’s effects because it’s a subject that we try to avoid at all costs. That’s why so many of us just hide from it or “soften” it when it stares us in the face. However, if you actually understood what was going on you would be able to not only cope with stress but overcome it. So, I decided to blog a step by step guide to what stress really is and what it does to you. If, you bear with me through this process I promise you will not only come out of this happier but healthier too or your money back!!

First off before you start to yawn and your eyes start to glaze over just give me a moment to give you a foundation to work with, o.k.?  Alright then, here goes. Stress can be defined as “the body’s inability to cope with its environment”, now the environment is the total surroundings  of body. For now I’ll just leave it at that. We’ll go into more detail later on after you have a firm foundation.

Next, we have to understand the General Adaptation System (or G.A.S.) principal that was brought to us from the father of stress, Han Selye basically he’s the Michael Jordan of stress. Through his studies we learned that the body goes through 3 stages in dealing with stress:

1.       Alarm reaction: this is the “fight or flight” reaction that you go through when you are scared or surprised.

2.       Adaptation: this is how you change to meet the needs of the environment.

3.       Exhaustion: This is not the exhaustion we talk about after a long tough day at work, this is the exhaustion that kills you and is very serious matter.

Now, we have to know the 3 ways that we can experience stress and we will have pretty much the basics down. These are:

1.       Physical: This is easy to understand, something physically happens to you to stress you out.

2.       Emotional: This is the “stress” most people relate to the topic, financial, kids, spouse, ect it is the “feel” when we are not happy with life.

3.       Chemical: This type of stress is one that is not even on most people’s radar, chemical stress can come from poisons (large and small), food addatives, even chemicals you make in your body as a reaction to …..you guessed it, stress. Yes, stress can cause stress.

The interesting thing about these 3 stressors is that the body reacts the same regardless of which types of stress or which combination of stressor  might be dealing with.

You now have the basics of stress (that wasn’t so bad was it) it’s like learning the alphabet before you can read, you could memorize a few words and be able to recognize or you learn the basics and read any book you want. Now you know:

What stress is?

3 reactions to Stress (GAS)

3 types of stress (physical, chemical, emotional)

Next time, Is Stress Real?

Improve your health with the proper pillow

These days, life seems to rush along at an increasingly fast pace while appreciation of proper sleep habits seems to diminish at the same speed. We start our day with too much caffeine and end it with too little sleep. The natural consequence of this is insomnia and other sleep problems. Chiropractors have all likely seen their fair share of patients with stiff necks, shoulders or backs due to "sleeping funny." This can be a double whammy, as an uncomfortable pillow may not only exacerbate existing sleeping problems, but also can undo all the good done by an adjustment. In an effort to help you experience a more restful night.
Often times a persons current pillow may be so familiar to them that they have no idea how much better they could feel with a new one that properly supports them. As Lisa Lounsbrough of Pivotal Health Solutions located in Watertown, S.C. noted, Keep in mind that if people have been sleeping on an old filled or flattened-out pillow, a more supportive pillow may take several nights to get used to as the body readjusts to correct alignment. They should begin getting adjusted by their doctor prior to using their new orthopedic pillow.
Kend Greenawalt, president and CEO of Roanoke, VA- based Foot Levelers, agreed that it may take time for a person to get used to a new pillow. As he explained, A pillow with proper corrective support may initially feel less comfortable than 'old squishy,' but the benefits of improved sleep posture by way of a properly supported cervical pillow will reveal themselves to the person in due course.
As you know, people come in all shapes and sizes, as Charles Halley, DC, with Heavenly Pillow and Mattress in Tampa, Fla., explained that the person's height will determine the best contour pillow to suit their needs: "The average person will take a 4 1/2-inch-thick pillow; that is usually somebody from 5'6 to 5'll. Taller people will take a 5-inch pillow and people shorter than 5'6' will take a 4-inch pillow. This is all based on your height being relative to the width of your shoulders. This is not always true, but it does hold 90 percent of the time."
Leslie Edwards of Therapeutica, based in Ontario, Canada, explained that two of the biggest culprits for many of these conditions are immobility and gravity. According to Edwards, this becomes important when trying to explain things in terms people will understand.
She explained, "A good portion of your day is spent immobile. If you add the hours you spend sleeping, sitting at the office, travelling to work, sitting at mealtimes and in front of a television or computer, you will get a number between 20 and 22 hours per day. Immobility is not in itself bad; everyone needs to physically rest. The issue is that our backs were designed to support the survival of an active individual. Thwenty hours a day of immobility was never in the plan. Gravity bears down on us 24 hours a day whether ware mobile or immobile. Damage is caused by the cumulative stress from incorrectlyu positionaing our back during the meany hours we are immobile."
Of course people will want to know exactly what conditions might be helped by trading in their favorite pillow for a brand- new one. As Nagel explained, There are many conditions a proper orthopedic pillow can help resolve, but the first consideration is ensuring that people can have a resful and god night's sleep. Proper and adequate sleep will help restore energy and allow a body to heal naturally. Conditions that may be helped or improved byuse of an orthopedic pillow include
-general neck pain/stiffness
-sleep apnea
-snoring
-whiplash
-breathing difficulty
-acid reflux
-blood circulation issues
-back pain
-shoulder injuries
-sciatica
-tension headaches
and more.
Experts recommend sleeping on the back or side, rather than face down.
As Edwards (Therapeutica) noted, Your sleep environment is essential to quality sleep. Some of these things can be easily addressed; the amount of light, noise and temperature in you're room. Your mattress and pillow play a vital role in the quantity and quality of sleep you achieve. People should be educated to understand this value. A pillow that offers no support to the neck or upper back is an impediment to quality sleep.

Artican by DCPI Staff

5 Truths About Wellness Care

5. Symptoms are not the problem, but an alert to an underlying cause and should be heeded, not silenced with chemicals (medication).

4. The body has an inborn ability to restore itself and will adapt to outside stressors, whether they are physical, emotional or chemical. When these stressors become too much, the body will eventually wear itself down trying to maintain balance; this results in an absence of health and wellness.

3. Wellness practitioners do not diagnose or treat conditions and diseases, but instead identify and remove outside stressors.

2. Wellness care focuses on improving function rather than hiding symptoms.

1. Doctors of chiropractic recognize the value of preventative care compared to symptom-based care. With regular adjustments, spinal health is maintained, encouraging proper nervous system function and allying for the body to perform at its best.



This article was written by:
Claudia Anrig, DC, practices in Fresno, Calif., and is on the board of directors of International Chiropractic Pediatric Association

Diabetes 1 to 3

Forty years from now, what will you be doing? Whatever your age by then, do you think you will be enjoying life? Chances are life won't be easy if you're one of the millions expected to be suffering from diabetes.

According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, between one in three and one in five U.S. adults will be diabetics by the year 2050. If we consider the one-in-three estimate, that means nearly 80 million adults will suffer from a condition whose symptom's range from unusual thirst, hunger, weight loss and fatigue to frequent infections, blurred vision tingling/numbness of the hands/feet and slow wound healing. In the worst-case scenario, diabetes can lead to deep skin ulcers necessitating limb amputation, blindness, stroke, kidney disease and eventual death.

Not a pretty picture, is it? Certainly not what you envision for you or your children within 40 years. Fortunately, there is a simple strategy to help reduce your risk of developing diabetes in the vast majority of cases: According to the American Diabetes Association, "You can prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes through a healthy lifestyle. Change your diet, increase your level of physical activity, maintain a healthy weight.. with these positive steps, you can stay healthier longer and reduce your risk of diabetes." Your doctor can give you information on diabetes prevention and assess your risk. Do it today.

-Toyourhealth.com January 2011

The Backpack Dilemma

This article was written by George Le Beau, D.C. is Clinical Associate Professor, (Chiropractic) and Clinic Director at the International Medical University (IMU), in Kuala Lumpur, Malasia.

The controversy and dialog about the problem with backpacks has raged for decades. Many groups have don "studies" to determine the extent of continuing trauma to young people literally saddled with carrying numerous books in backpacks that can easily weigh as much as 15% or more of their total body weight. Organization such as The American Chiropractic Association and the American Orthopedic Association have sponsored and performed numerous studies to determine the long term effects of heavy  backpacks on the musculoskeletal frame of children. The results of these studies have been published almost continuously in national and international journals. Everyone agrees that the "Back Pack Syndrome" (Figure #1) IS A real and threatening danger to the structural health of children in their formative years. The degree of threat varies from one "report" too another with some going as far as saying it can contribute to "Developmental Scoliosis." The preponderance of information available on this subject shows no good evidence in support of this theory. However, the occurrence of back pain symptoms in children who carry a high percentage of body weight in their backpacks is supported by numerous studies published in high-quality journals from around world. There is no doubt that the problem exists. The dilemma is.. what do we do about it? All sorts of suggestions have been presented from proper weight distribution (not carrying the pack on both shoulders equally) to designing a more ergonomic backpack, (Figure #2). To have a better understanding about the confusion surrounding this problem, perform a Google search of "Images, Backpacks." Daunting, to say the least. Of the dozens of pictured suggestions there are arguments for the adoption of each one in eliminating the problem. However, none of these suggestions eliminates anything. At best, they "accommodate" the child to the pack. We, as chiropractors, are always telling our patients that we treat the "cause" of the problem, not the "symptom." Designing a better backpack treats the symptom ! To eliminate the "cause," we simply need to get rid of the backpack entirely. One suggestion for this is "wheeled" (or in Europe and Asia, "trolley") backpacks. I believe the airline industry was first in connecting "continuing trauma" workers compensation disability claims with heavy backpacks. The solution reached by their research department was to require the use of special wheeled cases for their pilots and flight attendants. While this approach may take the weight off the child's shoulders and back, putting it onto the cart, other issues then come into play. Probably the most serious for young people, especially boys, is teasing and harassment from peers about being a sissy, weakling or any number of inventive, disparaging remarks their "friends" ca come up with. Another problem is the issue of stairs. Most schools from kindergarten to universities abound with stairs of every type and description. As a result, we not only have the weight problem to contend with, we also have the awkward and unwieldy (no pun intended) handle and wheels to lug up those pesky stairs. Yes, the handle retracts and there are straps on the trolley, but how many kids are going to bother with that when the bell rings and their in a rush? Others are still promoting the re-institution of school lockers. However, there are n a number of inherent problems with school provided lockers in every part of the world; for instance, cost, danger (e.g., drugs, weapons, pornography), graffiti, continuous abuse, damage and repair and last, but not least, hiding younger classmates for later release at the most embarrassing moment.
In today's digital age, and advanced computer technology, a possible solution to this widespread and potentially disastrous problem exists. It is possible put every word of every book in existence into electronic format. Indeed, this "paperless revolution" is already being done by just about every publishing house in the world expect, for some reason, the educational materials publishers. How simple it would be to take those very heavy textbooks and transfer that material onto a CD or post it on a password protected website. Teaches could hand out assignments via email or on a thumb drive. Students would then upload the information to their computer (Do you know any student who does not own one?), follow the "menu" to the appropriate chapter and study directly from their computer. Most of them do this anyway, even though they still have to lug the physical books around. This solution eliminates all but the smallest pack that would be used to hold and transport the CD's. With the tens of billions of dollars spent each year on school books, the savings to Government and State Education Departments would be enormous. Maybe this is part of the problem. With the incredible profit margin made by the educational publishing houses, I'm sure the publisher's lobby would surely do everything possible to block this advancement. Where are the environmentalists, "Tree Huggers," when you NEED them?

10 Keys To Lower Spinal Stability

This article was written by Brian D. Jensen, D.C.

1. Inflammation- Inflammation can be the result of acute trauma or it can be the result of chronic dietary choices. The acute inflammation in some ways is much easier to treat and can result in dramatic symptomatic changes quickly. The chronic inflammatory condition can have more profound effects to overall heath and will require the patient to make some serious changes in their lifestyle, but the benefits are certainly worth the effort. Simple dietary changes to eliminate the inflammatory foods from the diet will make a dramatic difference, while failure to address this can lead to major frustration for the patient and doctor alike.

2. Muscle Spasm- Acute spasm is often associated with acute inflammation and responds relatively well in the early stages of care. Chronic spasm may be less painful and may require a more through palpatory examination. Associated findings that may affect how quickly a patient responds are:

3. Myofasical trigger points and..

4. Adhesion's- Both of these findings are long standing problems that, if left unaddressed, will inhibit the patients progress. The idea is that muscles hold bones, and tight muscles hold bones tightly- not to mention that the presence of a trigger point increases the likelihood of another injury at some point. Soft tissue management is very important to optimal patient outcomes. It is something that the patient can actively participate in away from the office with stretching protocols or the use of a muscle management device.

5. Degenerative Arthritis- Any degenerative joint disease (DJD) tells me that the patient already has a degree of limitation and always will. I believe that we can help these people, but we have to be realistic with the limitation of these tissues. You can't "unboil" a hard-boiled egg, and symptomatic relieff is only part of the story for someone with degeneration. X-ray findings of DJD are often discounted because they don't cause a lot of pain for the most part, so we really don't pay too much attention to them. But they are important because they tell a story. All of these asymptomatic findings are results of trauma or gradual degenerative changes because of postural stress, and they are very important because they help us anticipate what will happen in the future. These problems don't go away or improve with age, making it all the more important that we manage them properly.


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