How Stress Can Affect Your Body & How Acupuncture Can Help 

Does any of this sound familiar?

• Headaches
• Fatigue
• Allergies
• Irritability/Anger
• Neck/Shoulder/Back Pain
• Digestive Difficulties

The list you just read are the top six ways your body shows that you have high stress levels. Close to 100% of the patients that I see have at least one of these symptoms and quite often a few, if not all of them are present. And what do they all have in common? STRESS! I "joke" with my patients about this, asking "Do you want to get better". They always say yes so, I tell them to quit their jobs, move to the mountains, practice yoga and meditation every day and eat a mainly vegetarian diet. They usually smirk and I go on to tell them that if they do this they will never have to visit me again and further, they will probably never have to go see a doctor for the rest of their lives! Stress has that big of effect on the body. Now obviously we can't all quit our jobs and become yogis. But if that is the ideal situation for health, how do we get a little closer to that and/or how do we get some of those ideal practices in to our lives. Well, I think we could all find 20 minutes in our day to meditate. Exercise is so important to our health in so many ways and is great for stress reduction. It does not have to be a two-hour slog at the gym, beating yourself to a pulp. An hour of yoga, every other day with a half hour walk on the other days is plenty. We can all do a little better with our diets. Don't change everything at once, that is a recipe for failure. Small steps are key until you eventually reach the point that you are eating healthy foods, most of the time. Finally, availing yourself to healing and wellness practices can help you deal with the stress that you inevitably encounter. Massage, chiropractic and of course acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine can help. Acupuncture has been proven clinically to reduce stress markers in the body. Engaging the parasympathetic nervous system, acupuncture helps your body enter a state where healing occurs naturally. On top of this, an acupuncturist can directly address the complaints listed above.

The choice is yours. You can come see me on a regular basis to address your symptoms or you can do some of the work yourself. Engaging in some activities that can help you reduce your stress level and making some other lifestyle changes will help you feel better, faster. Fewer acupuncture treatments will be needed as the acupuncture and your own efforts work together to heal you and to maintain health. We live in the real world and very few of us can become yogis, but you can make some changes to help yourself!