How Stress Can Lead to Injury
AND HOWYOU CAN STOP IT
W hile it’s pretty intuitive that physical stressors can cause physical injuries, you might not know that mental and emotional stress can also lead to musculoskeletal injuries that require physical therapy. That’s right — a lack of sleep, a busy workweek, and other stressful life events can make you more prone to injury. Why is this, and how can you prevent the stresses of everyday life from causing you bodily harm?
You can prevent injuries with all sorts of physical means, but if you fail to address your mental and emotional health, you’ll still be at a heightened risk. While you might not be able to prevent every stressful situation from ever happening, you can control how you react when one does occur.
A few simple things you can do to prevent mental stress are to get enough sleep, maintain a healthy diet, and drink plenty of water. If any of these basic stress inhibitors are absent from your daily routine, focus on incorporating them in to alleviate some of your stress. That said, practicing simple breathing exercises or another form of meditation can also be helpful, especially if you’re looking for a physical way to mentally unwind after a stressful day.
When you experience stress, your body does a few things that naturally put you at an increased risk of injury. First, stress causes your nerves to
function inefficiently. Second, stressful situations lead to higher levels of cortisol in the body, a hormone that inhibits muscle repair and immune system function. If you’re always dealing with stressful situations, then you’re constantly leaving your body open to physical injury.
While learning about how much stress hurts you can be even more stressful, you can find some peace knowing that with a few simple changes to your routine, you can prevent your stress from causing physical injury.
Be the Healthiest You Can Be WHAT POOR HEALTH MEANS IN THE FACE OF COVID-19
COVID-19 has rocked our world, but we can defend against it. If you contract COVID-19 or have already had it, traditional Chinese medicine is the answer to support your recovery. In general, Americans are stressed out and overworked. On top of that, we have horrible diets and often try to turn to fad diets and nutrition “trends” to improve our well-being, but these only contribute to unhealthiness. In the U.S., this lack of self-care, as well as worsening chronic conditions, are the reasons we are struggling to eliminate COVID-19. But there’s another problem arising as a result of COVID-19 that is causing disastrous health conditions: dampness, the improper metabolism of bodily fluids. Fluids that are not metabolized properly create more health issues, causing a snowball effect.
Inflammation is one response to dampness. Inflammation, simply put, cooks the fluids in the body, creating more dampness and phlegm. As this process starts to break down the system, bacteria coats itself in mucous, which leads to gut dysbiosis, internal mold, water retention, and further dampness. That’s the grim look of COVID-19 and why it affects some people more violently than others. That’s why the best defense against this virus is to take the time to absolutely focus on and improve all aspects of your health right now. In Chinese medicine, we view health issues through a holistic lens to diagnose you. We dive into genetics, traumas, diet, lifestyle, stressors, work-life balance, exercise, self-care, and more to get to the root of your health problems. But there are no quick, easy fixes — Chinese medicine is all about healing your body naturally over time and getting you on track to being the healthiest, cleanest version of yourself.
Call today to schedule your telehealth consultation to learn more about our path to freedom with a total overhaul of your health.
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