Stress is the body’s physiological mechanism of “fight or flight”. Fight or flight describes how our evolutionary biology (from our ancestors) affects how we react to different situations in the modern world. The stress response is coded into our physiology to shut down less vital systems of our body for fighting (the immune response, digestion, reproductive functioning, concentration, etc) for more crucial systems (adrenaline, blood pressure, glycolysis, lipolysis, etc).

How does that response affect modern man? This response was a healthy response when we were being chased by a tiger and needed to either fight or flight- to essentially run away to safety, so we could revert back to our more natural state of physiology. In the last 40,000 years, our genetic code has not changed at all… meaning that we still have the same response to a threat. The difference now is that there is so much stress in our lives that we have no opportunity to run to a safe place because stress follows us. Stress lives in our thoughts, and trauma lives in our bodies far longer than the physical damage. Every time we think of a stressful event, our nervous systems revert back to the “fight or flight” state, and things like the immune response, digestion, reproductive functioning, kidney functioning and concentration decrease, and our blood pressure elevates, our blood glucose elevates, our blood cortisol levels increase, our cells become more insulin resistant, and a host of other things occur.

Chiropractic works on the nervous system. When there is stress on the nervous system, it becomes more prone to the state of physiology of fight or flight. As we sort through the layers of subluxations in the spine, we decrease the stress on the nervous system, and allow it to tend towards a state of relaxation. While administering an adjustment, it’s not uncommon for the patient to have an immediate emotional response. Patients often spontaneously start to cry or laugh, and have no idea why. The subluxation stress on the nervous system sometimes doesn’t allow the patient to express himself, and when that stress is finally removed, expression occurs. Chiropractic allows the body to process stress more effectively.

How does a structural lesion in the spine affect emotions? Stress on the body comes in three forms- physical, chemical and emotional. Many times, a subluxation is composed of all three forms in varying degrees. Structure affects function and function affects structure. Emotional stress can cause subluxations.

Yours in Health,

Dr. Tod Pelly