How Chiropractic Care May Improve Your Stress Level
Frequent stress is just as bad for your physical health as it is for your mental health. Chronic stress increases your risk for high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, depression and other serious health conditions. Chiropractic care offers a natural way to manage stress.
The Effects of Stress
Do your neck and shoulder muscles feel sore and tight when you're stressed? Muscle tension isn't the only physical consequence of stress. Stress can also cause headaches and migraines, back pain, nausea, diarrhea, bloating, sleep issues, and temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJ).
These symptoms occur when your body activates the "fight-or-flight" response. The response helps you react to a threatening situation, but also occurs if you're feeling stressed about a work situation or an argument with your partner. In addition to tensing your muscles, the fight-or-flight response raises your blood pressure and heart rate, slows digestion, and increases production of the stress hormone cortisol.
Less Stress with Chiropractic Care
Chiropractic treatments focus on improving musculoskeletal (bones and muscles) health and nervous system function. Small bones called vertebrae provide flexibility for the spine and protect the spinal cord, the connection between the brain and body. A network of nerves branches out from the spinal cord along the length of the spine.
Misaligned vertebrae (subluxations) and tight muscles and tissues press on nerves, irritating them. Irritation and pressure make it harder for the nervous system to do its job and may be contributing factors in stress.
Chiropractic adjustments realign the vertebrae, relieving pain and irritation. Spinal manipulation also balances the nervous system, according to a literature search published in Acta Biomedica in 2020.
Chiropractic treatment offers many stress-relieving benefits, including:
- More Comfortable Muscles and Tissues. Adjustments correct subluxations and decrease stress on surrounding tissues. Massage and other soft tissue therapies loosen tight muscles and tissues, helping you feel more relaxed. As muscle tension eases, you may find your range of motion and overall comfort level increase. Do you struggle with migraines and tension headaches due to stress? These types of headaches are associated with tense neck muscles, according to the American Chiropractic Association. Adjustments to the vertebrae in your neck, in addition to massage, soft tissue mobilization, trigger point therapy, and other treatments, could relieve or reduce your stress-induced headaches.
- Cortisol Reduction. Cortisol gives your body the energy it needs to handle difficult situations by increasing glucose (sugar) levels in the blood. Unfortunately, cortisol doesn't always drop after a stressful experience. If you often feel stressed, your cortisol level may remain high. Chiropractic treatments improve nervous system function, which could help your cortisol level return to normal. Treatments also eliminate nerve signal disruptions that could affect your ability to calm yourself.
- Better Heart Rate Variability. Your high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV) becomes lower when you feel stressed. Heart rate variability is the time between heartbeats. Massage increases HF-HRV while improving relaxation, according to a randomized, controlled trial published in Scientific Reports in 2020.
- A Natural Calm. Do you wish there were a way to feel calmer without taking medication? During many chiropractic treatments, including adjustments and massage, your body releases serotonin and endorphins. These hormones relieve pain and improve mood naturally, helping you feel calm and relaxed.
- Better Sleep. Stress worsens when you don't get a good night's sleep, yet it's hard to fall asleep when your muscles hurt, you have a headache, and you're worried about the day ahead. Chiropractic treatments promote good sleep by relieving pain and enhancing relaxation.
Are you concerned about your stress level? Chiropractic care offers an effective natural solution to stress. Contact our office to schedule an appointment with the chiropractor.
Sources:
Mayo Clinic: Chronic Stress Puts Your Health at Risk, 8/1/2023
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress/art-20046037
PMC: Acta Biomedica: Neurological Basis of Chiropractic Manipulative Treatment of the Spine in the Care of Major Depression, 11/9/2020
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8023121/
Scientific Reports: Standardized Massage Interventions as Protocols for the Induction of Psychophysiological Relaxation in the Laboratory: A Block Randomized, Controlled Trial, 9/8/2020
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-71173-w
American Chiropractic Association: Headaches
https://www.acatoday.org/patients/headaches-and-chiropractic/
iSelect: The Leading Causes of Stress Worldwide, 9/2025
https://www.iselect.com.au/health-insurance/insights/leading-causes-of-stress-worldwide/