Stress Management for Pain Relief
This page and the ones that you can click to is, I hope, something that will make you stop and think - too many of us accept stress is just a normal part of our lives.
Again I hope that you will begin to realise how dangerous stress is, to not only our physical and mental health, but to all areas of our life and to those that surround us or depend on us.
Fight and Flight or
'Why stress really Matters'
When I was training to be a natural therapist my herbal medicine tutor gave me the most important thought for my future career, when she was combining a herbal mixture she said:
“I always add something for the nervous system”
After many years in practice and many of you coming to my clinic - I really know why the nervous system is so important. I will try and explain that we need (that is all doctors, specialists and therapists) to consider the person sitting in front of us and the emotions involved in their illness.
I have explained why stress really matters to over 80% of my clients, with digestive issues, pain, recurring undiagnosable illnesses etc etc...... the list really is unending, as are the variety of illnesses you bring to me.
“I don't get stressed” some may tell me.
Yes you do, we all do, every time we miss the bus, loose our keys, or the car in the car park (my favourite) or hit a red light. Now none of these were around in the Stone Age when we needed a stress response to keep us alive, however it’s still in use, the fight or flight response.
We have all heard the expression fight and flight response, but what does it mean to our bodies?
Let me tell you what I tell my clients; about ‘Tiger Moments’
Stress Overload becomes Life Threathening
Changes the Brain
Imagine, if you can, all those eons ago………
You're out walking, hunting and gathering, when a sabre-toothed tiger jumps out of the trees. Time for that fight or flight response I mentioned above. It’s our survival mechanism.
Your system has to to immediately prime your whole body to wrestle the tiger to the ground or sprint to safety. Your body is programmed to produce chemicals, that begin the stress response which in the body is responsible for the following
– the heart pounds
– blood pressure increases to get blood flowing to the core muscles, arms and legs for fight or flight
– the kidney helps this by holding onto sodium hence its relationship to high blood pressure and at the same time excrete's magnesium
– various systems such as the digestive system, hormone system and urinary system all go on standby, with no attention until you return to the cave then your body gets rid of those stress chemicals.
Do Not Let Anyone Tell You Stress Doesn't Matter!! - more information here