Stress management

By chiropractor Dr. Annika Jende

When people mention that they are stressed, they usually refer to relationships, work or finances causing them distress.

There is more to stress than meets the eye, however. Stress is, by definition, anything the body has to adapt to.

Emotional stress is one of three possible sources of stress, that we are all familiar with.

The second type of stress is chemical: toxins that we come into contact with, such as pesticides on our food, cleaning products (both personal and home),  toxic metals such as aluminium from cooking implements or deodorants, alcohol, excess sugar, cigarette smoke to name just a few. These toxins require the body to use resources to detoxify that would otherwise have been used for other purposes in the body. The other type of chemical stress is nutritional deficiency, where we are lacking enough good nutrients to get all the jobs the body needs to do easily and effortlessly.

The third kind of stress is structural stress. If you have a postural challenge, an old injury, an unhelpful habit such as tech neck (check out this article https://spectrumchiropractic.com.au/why-is-good-posture-important/ ), the body has to find a way to work around all of these limitations and restrictions. Which is why incidentally “growing old” is such a poor excuse for pain and lack of function – these kind of problems can be improved upon at any time.  The sooner after the incident the better, obviously, but better late than never!

All of these aspects influence each other, as shown in the examples in the graphic above, in a complex dance of wellbeing – or not. In chiropractic, the influence that the chemical, emotional and structural aspects of health have on each other is called the triad of health.

The body only has one way it can react to stress, so if you are able to improve even just one of those three aspects, your body will start to recover, but the holistic approach, where all three aspects are addressed, is far superior. This is what we endeavour to do at Spectrum, so you can enjoy the best possible health outcomes.