De-Stress with Chinese Medicine

Are you busy, overwhelmed, and STRESSED OUT?!  Ugh, what a pain!  Well you are not alone.  In this country, 73% of the population reportedly experience psychological symptoms caused by stress.  Even worse, 33% feel they are living with extreme stress!  Whether it is job pressures, financial concerns, relationship issues, or chronic health problems, stress seems to be on the rise.  It may seem overwhelming at times and difficult to get through the day, sometimes it may even be paralyzing.  Many assume that everyone has to deal with stress and fear that it might never go away, but we are here to tell you how Urban Herbs can help.
 
Stress is not something to take lightly.  It can significantly impact your life.  From poor nutrition, sleep deprivation, or media overload, sometimes stress can seem like a Catch 22; “If I’m not sleeping, I’m stressed, if I’m stressed, I’m not sleeping.”  Co-worker tensions, loss of job, medical bills, and health crises are all too common triggers for a stressful experience.
 
Although this seems to be a new and growing epidemic in the United States, stress has been around for nearly forever.  The body innately has always had to deal with stress by releasing epinephrine and cortisol from the brain’s sympathetic nerves.  The liver produces more blood sugar in a stressful episode to give you more energy to deal with the trigger.  Your autonomic processes like taking slow, full breaths, are interrupted so your sympathetic system can decide whether to “fight or flight”. These are all very acute ways that the body is programmed to handle stress; however, if it lingers for a long time or becomes a chronic concern, these adaptive behaviors of your body can lead to more pressing health concerns.  That cortisol that your brain releases can affect your body’s ability to fight fat, the increased blood sugar levels can lead to risking higher chances of becoming diabetic.  Respiratory diseases could result from the constant stress on your lungs, narrowing arteries and higher cholesterol levels increase the chance of heart disease, stress can lengthen or shorten the menstrual cycle and lead to reproductive concerns, and ongoing stress decreases the body’s ability to fight infection by lowering your immune response, which unfortunately can also bring about eczema, acne, and even hives.
 
Scary stuff for sure. 
 
So what can Chinese medicine do about it??
 
Acupuncture and Chinese herbs can greatly improve chronic stress in someone’s life.  Some of the major symptoms of stress can include poor judgment, moodiness, a feeling of detachment, excessive worrying, a negative outlook, and even physical pain. During an intake with a Chinese Medicine Practitioner, we may ask you some questions to get an idea of which organ is most greatly affected by your stress.  One common symptom is noticing pain just under your rib cage, especially on the right side.  This signifies a potential imbalance in the Liver organ in Chinese medicine, which energetically is the “store-house of emotion”.  If your Liver isn’t smoothly coursing Qi (aka the energy is stuck) it will be more difficult to relieve the chronic stress.  Specific acupuncture points on the hands and feet are used in combination to help move the blocked Qi and soothe the Liver.  Another way this can be accomplished is through movement and exercise.  Do you ever notice that your stress is somewhat alleviated after a good long run?  This may be the case for some.
 
Another symptom of stress we commonly see is over-worrying, especially at night before bed.  People who have a tendency towards “monkey-mind” might be experiencing some sort of Spleen and Heart imbalance in a Chinese medical sense.  Other symptoms that go along with this pattern include not feeling rested in the morning, over-sweating, and the feeling of your heart pounding.  In this case, we may use acupuncture points to help strengthen the Spleen and relieve heat from the Heart. We could also prescribe Chinese herbs that would act to harmonize these organs to relieve the long-term stress.
 
Shortness of breath and a tendency to catch every cold/flu that is going around could be indicators of a Lung imbalance in Chinese medicine.  In this case we may choose acupuncture points to help “open the chest” or increase the body’s immune system. Studies have found that acupuncture increases the number of T4 cells in the body.  These are the “fighter” cells that go and attack a pathogen that has entered the body and ward off illnesses.
 
As is the case with everything when speaking to a Chinese medicine practitioner, a separate protocol would be needed to handle each person’s specific case.  Different acupuncture points and Chinese herbs are chosen to balance the body and decrease the level of stress in each individual’s life.  If you are interested in finding out how Chinese medicine can help you with your stress, whether it be chronic or acute, all-consuming or just simply something you are noticing is on the rise in your life, give us a call today!  We are here to help you live the best life you can!  Our phone number is (720) 638-6622 or you can always email us with any questions atinfo@urbanherbsco.com.
 
Check out the graphic above to learn about some small ways you can impact your stress right now.  Self-care is the first step in any health care practice and your commitment to getting better goes a very long way when dealing with stress.