Anxiety is a symptom, not a condition. A symptom is an alert from our body that something is going on beneath the surface. You may wonder why somebody would see a chiropractor for anxiety. We will get to that but it’s important first to understand what anxiety even is. When talking about anxiety, the dysfunction beneath the surface typically lies within the nervous system- the master control center of the body.
Let me say it another way to help understand, anxiety is a sign of underlying nervous system imbalance. This can be improved and even completely reversed! We know most people are told the opposite from their doctors, unfortunately. This is not a condition or a sentence that you have to live with forever! Iโm excited to present a recent case that weโve seen at Lifespring Chiropractic in Austin, TX. This individual (along with many others we see) came in seeking a chiropractor for anxiety, looking for relief for a problem they couldnโt find answers to from many specialists.ย ย ย
Itโs much easier to see the story if we look at someone elseโs journey rather than our own. We all have blinders and biases with our own health. After years of seeing thousands of patients, Iโve learned that we almost all identify as โhealthyโ or โfineโuntil suddenly we seem โbrokenโ or โsick.โ Many people donโt immediately think of seeing a chiropractor for anxiety, but addressing nervous system imbalances can have a profound impact on mental health. Letโs take a look at an individual who was experiencing anxiety and saw a miraculous transformation with nervous system focused chiropractic care and lifestyle habits to balance their nervous system!ย ย
Case Study: Janeโs Journey to Better Sleep and Reduced Stress
Jane (we changed her name and tweaked a couple insignificant things for privacy reasons), a female in her 30โs came to us through a referral from a friend. She had been experiencing anxiety for a few months that seemed to come out of nowhere. Prior to this, she had never struggled with anxiety. Now, seemingly out of nowhere she was experiencing anxiety (especially in social settings), sweaty hands, a high heart heart, and felt like โher nervous system was imbalanced.โ
Jane had previously tried vagal tone exercises before seeing us. She said they helped a little, but she was still experiencing social anxiety that was affecting her personal life. Jane felt like a burden to her partner because she could not go out in a social setting or stay out late.ย
Playing Detective: The Journey to Uncover the Root Cause of Anxiety
This is the fun part because we all have โhidden things in our closetโ that we forget about. Meaning we shake off past injuries or trauma weโve been through, and donโt realize the significance itโs played in our lives until it shows up like it did for Jane. When questioning Jane about past events we found that she had been in a previous whiplash style car accident that happened about 20 years ago,ย and a motorcycle accident that happened about 15 years ago. They both seemed insignificant to her because she did not feel any lasting effects after the events. She was a little sore and was told to wear a neck brace, but there were no findings with any imaging. She was told everything was โnormal.โ
Jane said she โcarried her tension in her shoulders.โ Side note-this is common but not normal. Oftentimes the neck tension and shoulder tightness are the only subtle symptoms that show up after accidents. They are a sign of a deeper problem! Read on and youโll see. Jane was also waking up tired in the mornings, even after getting adequate amounts of sleep. She described her sleep as up and down. She commonly had trouble sleeping through the night.ย
What we found interesting is that Jane mentioned having neck and shoulder tightness for the past 20 years. This is right around when the accidents happened. From our perspective, this was definitely related to the accident. Our body often whispers before it screams. The hard part is slowing our lives down enough and tuning in enough to hear these whispers.
Unveiling the Hidden Story: What Her Insight Scans Revealed
Any good detective has tools to help uncover the not so obvious. For our Austin, TX chiropractor team at Lifespring, one of those amazing tools are the INSiGHT scans we use. After deeper testing with our INSiGHT nervous system scans, we confirmed that the past car and motorcycle accidents (along with other contributing factors) were indeed creating significant nervous system stress in her body. Below were two of the three initial scan results.ย
Heart Rate Variability Test
This was her heart rate variability, essentially telling us two things-how well her body is balancing the โgas pedalโ vs the โbrake pedal,โ and how much energy is in her nervous system. Energy is reflected low to high, and the gas pedal is more left sided while the brake pedal is more right sided. The โgas pedalโ of the body, our sympathetic nervous system, is where we get our quick adrenaline like during a workout or maybe during a work setting.
The โbrake pedalโ or parasympathetic nervous system (activated by the vagus nerve) is where we rest, digest, and heal. We need both. We want to see a white dot (patients score) on this chart in the green zone right near the โZ5.โ This represents a healthy, balanced nervous system that can go back and forth between the gas and the brake- a balanced nervous system. Learn more about our INSiGHT scans with a deep dive here.ย
In Janeโs scan we can see she is low and to the left of the ideal zone. This means two things- sheโs stuck on the gas pedal aka the sympathetic region and has a slightly low overall โcharge to her battery.โ Her vagus nerve or parasympathetic response was below normal. This nervous system imbalance often creates symptoms in the body. Anxiety is one of those symptoms. Pain is another possibility. Sleep troubles, digestive challenges and the list goes on. These are not isolated problems but rather symptoms of ONE root cause-an imbalanced nervous system.ย
Paraspinal Thermography Test
This nerve scan is looking at the balance of the autonomic nervous system- the nerves that run the show behind the scenes in the body. One of the things we want to see is that the temperature difference from the left side to the right side is similar and within a normal difference (white is ideal, green is mildly off, blue is moderately off, and red is significantly off). We see the nerves in the upper region of the neck near the brainstem showing significant signs of โdysautonomia,โ which simply means the nervous system is out of balance. The vagus nerve lives in this upper neck region that is out of balance, so we are seeing more confirmation that the nerves here are being significantly affected which can lead to symptoms like anxiety, immune system challenges, sleep troubles, and more.ย
Crafting the Plan: Janeโs Roadmap to Recovery
After hearing Janeโs story and seeing her INSiGHT scans, we made a customized recommendation for how many visits she should come in for to achieve her goals. We really emphasized the importance of following this as closely as possible. This is because it is like the effective dose of what we are prescribing. Think of a supplement or a drug. If you donโt take enough, nothing happens. This is often why โchiropractic didnโt work for meโ happens.
We canโt emphasize enough that miracles happen in the plan. We also made home recommendations to help balance her nervous system to complement the work we were doing and help Jane achieve long term results after we finish the recommendation given. This often includes things like altering the types of workoutโs someone does for a period of time, or improving sleep habits. Find our top recommendations for balancing your nervous system at home in our free Foundational Health Guide.ย If you’re wondering how a chiropractor for anxiety crafts a plan to create lasting change, Janeโs story is a perfect example.
From Stress to Calm: What a Chiropractor for Anxiety Did for Jane
After only one month of following the plan with nervous system focused chiropractic care and home recommendations we outlined for Jane, her anxiety was gone! Sheโs now able to hang out with friends and stay out late! She no longer feels like a burden to her partner for not being able to go out! We didnโt โfix herโ though! And also thereโs more work to be done! An important thing to keep in mind is that symptoms are the last thing to show up, but also the first thing to leave. Her follow up scans are below.ย
Here is the updated HRV graph that looks great! This is ideal and represents a balanced nervous system. Her vagus nerve is working again!ย
Here is the follow up thermal scan showing a better pattern and significantly less nerve inflammation in the neck region! Another sign of a balanced nervous system.ย
Jane was so excited to be experiencing what feels like a normal life again. Her neck tension and sleep also improved! To create lasting changes in the brain, we have a little more work to do with her. This is a concept called neuroplasticity. Time and repetition create this lasting change. Everything done right in health takes this time and repetition. There is no hacking or shortcutting it. Choosing the right chiropractor for anxiety involves finding someone who understands this connection between the spine, nervous system, and emotional well-being.
Why More People Are Turning to a Chiropractor for Anxiety Relief
This case is not an anomaly for us. We see many like it, and plan on sharing more of them in the future. Some of the most common themes we see in people with high anxiety is that they have had a past head or neck injury like a concussion or car accident. They almost always find the injury โinsignificantโ due to not feeling much after the injury, or having gotten imaging like an x-ray or MRI that said they were โnormal.โ They often donโt even think of it as an โinjury.โ We regularly find that these past accidents or injuries along with an accumulation of lifestyle imbalances like an over-stressed nervous system, lack of sleep for a period of months to years, or not enough daily movement all contribute to the underlying cause until it โblows up.โย
After blowing up, people usually make their way into a medical doctor’s office only to be put on beta blockers, SSRIโs, or other drugs that regularly come with a whole list of side effects. One of the side effects for SSRIโs listed on the Mayo Clinic website is actually anxiety. Yes you read that right, a side effect of a drug taken for anti anxiety can be anxiety. Other common side effects we see from patients taking these include sleep troubles, low libido, and digestive challenges. These are all nervous system related! As you can see, itโs a nervous system problem.ย
If youโve been looking for a natural solution for anxiety, and are not sure who to see, fed up with specialists, not getting any answers, consider a nervous system chiropractor for anxiety. Get started today with your first appointment which includes our high tech nervous system scans with a chiropractor in Austin, TX.
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