Download Understanding & Reducing Chronic Stress

Understanding & Reducing
Chronic Stress
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What Motivates or Drives You?
Are You as Healthy as you thought you would
be at the age you are now?
Would you say your significant other would
like to see you lose some weight?
Do you wake up everyday pain free and loving
what you do?
“A critical shift in medicine has been the
recognition that many of the damaging
diseases of slow accumulation can
either be caused or made far worse by
stress.” -Robert M. Sapolsky, author of
the critically acclaimed Why Zebras
Don’t Get Ulcers.
The wear and tear on your body as
a result of anxiety, concern, or
fatigue from a difficult or
demanding situation.
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Job
Money
Relationships
Children
Junk food
Drugs
One of the worlds 1st researchers on stress,
Hans Selye, M.D., documented 3 stages a
person goes through in response to stress.
 Alarm
Phase: This is the body’s
defense towards a flight or flight
situation.
◦ Example: Walking up on a snake
 Resistance
Stage: The body either
adapts to the threat or
successfully resists the stress and
returns to normal.
 Exhaustion
Stage: The body’s
failure to return to normal in the
resistance stage, due to
prolonged stress, low resistance
or mal function.
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Exhaustion causes the nervous system
to secrete hormones
These hormones (adrenal hormones)
cause the following problems:
◦ Loss of the ability to digest
◦ Decrease circulation to the heart
◦ Decrease immune system defenses by lowering
the number of white blood cells
◦ Decrease oxygen to cells
◦ Increase risk of cancers
Zebras don’t have chronic stresses like:
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Mortgages
Unpaid Overtime
Being Accepted into a Good College
Traffic Jams
Paying Bills
Getting Sick
Chronic stress is the major threat to
humans. Chronic stress causes the
increase in:
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Cortisol
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Adrenaline
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Norephinephrine
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Cortisol- increases blood sugar and stops
immune response
It’s now known that high levels of cortisol “take a toll on
our bodies and can worsen inflammatory conditions such
as colitis and eczema, as well as auto immune disorders
like RA, lupus and MS,” says Dr. David Katz, MD, director
of the Yale Prevention Research Center in New Haven,
Connecticut.
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Adrenaline- stimulates heart muscles
Norephinephrine- constricts the blood
vessels, decreasing oxygen to cells,
slows gastrointestinal muscle
contraction and increases heart
activity.
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Headaches
Irritability
Sleep Disorders
Pain and tension in the neck
Allergies & Sinus issues
Fatigue, Insomnia & Digestive issues
Tension HA
Decrease Immune System
IBS & Constipation
◦ Stress also makes muscles tight, causing people
to be tense and restricted in range of motion
These tests are simple ways to
show you that your body is
breaking down due to stress
and that you need to take
action to live a healthier life.
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Test #1: Turn your head to the
right then left. You should be
able to do this test freely with
no tension or discomfort noted.
 Test
#2: Stand up and try to
touch your toes without
bending your knees.
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Test #3: Test for trigger points.
Touch or grab these locations to
see if you have tenderness.
When you find tenderness in any
of these points it indicates a
local nerve is irritated.
Low Back (erectors)
Neck (suboccip)
Shoulders (traps)
Have you ever had a pebble in
your shoe?
The pebble is irritating a nerve.
Nerves are very sensitive, so
you stop and remove the
pebble or irritation.
A minor irritation to a spinal nerve
not only can cause tension, pain
and numbness, but all of the
stress symptoms as well.
Chiropractors gently and without
pain, remove irritation on spinal
nerves by using their hands to
reduce the tension and
distortion.
Stress is going to attack areas
of the body that have been
predisposed to weakness.
A person with a damaged neck
with stress gets headaches.
A person with a weak lumbar
under stress gets back pain,
circulation problems,
menstrual problems or even
colitis.
Trauma to the spine and nervous
system as a child create areas of
weakness which show up in an
adult with the onset of stress.
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Exercise: engage in some form of exercise or
relaxation daily. Take a walk and get fresh air and
sunlight (You owe yourself)!
Laugh: Laugh! Laughter has been clinically proven to
quickly reduce cortisol while at the same time
releasing endorphins, which are in the same chemical
family as opiates, heroin, morphine and natural
painkillers.
“Laughter is a tranquilizer with no side effects.”
Glasow
-Arnold
Natural Ways Of Reducing Stress with
Alternative Medicine
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Lifestyle changes to allow for more sleep
Healthy diet
Taking vitamins
Massage
Breathing exercises
Progressive relaxation
Meditation
Yoga
Chiropractic care
Thank You For Your Precious Time!
Please Email Questions To
hunter@ chirofitcoolsprings.com
“The longest journey begins
with the very first step.”
Confucis
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