It’s estimated that about 60% of the world’s population suffers from continuous levels of high stress, worry, or anxiety. In many instances, daily stressors have a severe impact on an individual’s daily life.
While some people actively look for ways to deal with workplace and personal stressors, others just accept them as a part of daily life. Ignoring high stress can be harmful for your health, which is why local medical experts recommend opting for the acupuncture Bentleigh residents are using for a wide range of ailments. This post explores how acupuncture can reduce your stress levels.
But First, Understanding Stress
Before we jump into the wonders of acupuncture, it’s essential to know what stress is and how it affects your body. Stress can be defined as the body’s natural emotional and physical reaction to daily pressure, challenges, and various demands.
Feeling overwhelmed by these demands and pressures leads to your “fight-or-flight” responses being triggered. When this happens, your body releases hormones such as adrenaline, which increases heart rate, blood sugar, and blood pressure.
When emotional demands exceed an individual’s ability to cope, stress can lead to feelings of anxiety, irritability, and being consistently overwhelmed. Symptoms of high stress include the following:
- Difficulty relaxing
- Trouble sleeping
- Chronic headaches
- Gut health issues
- Loss of appetite
- Changes in behaviour
If left untreated, chronic stress is very harmful to your health. Keeping your body’s fight-or-flight response activated leads to increased “wear and tear” on all the systems in your body. This increases the risk of anxiety, weakened immunity, sleep problems, digestive issues, or depression.
Understanding Acupuncture
Few people understand the benefits of regular acupuncture. This ancient, holistic approach has been around for centuries and involves using small needles which are inserted into various trigger points on your body.
Placing needles into certain trigger points has been shown to affect areas of the brain that minimise or eliminate sensitivity in the brain. This process encourages feelings of calm and relaxation. When this happens, the part of the brain responsible for anxiety is deactivated. In many instances, this process also minimises your body’s sensitivity to localised and chronic pain.
Acupuncture Eliminates Stress
Ongoing research highlights that the average Australian suffers at least one major stressor every year. This can include factors such as work stress, emotional conflicts, moving house, grief, childbirth, and a host of other events that can affect your general well-being. While some people ignore stress, others resort to treatments such as acupuncture. Here’s how it will benefit you.
1. Minimises Tension
One of the key benefits of acupuncture is that it uses the body’s internal mechanisms to encourage muscle and joint relief. This process of adding thin acupuncture needles works to stimulate the nerves below the skin and at the same time sends a message to the brain.
When this happens, the body releases endorphins, which are the hormones responsible for pain relief. A single acupuncture session can significantly release built-up tension. More severe cases may require regular sessions.
2. Improves Sleep Patterns
If your body is constantly in fight-or-flight mode, you may find it difficult to sleep. Fortunately, a few acupuncture sessions will encourage the release of natural melatonin. This, in turn, leads to improved sleeping patterns as it helps to reduce the effects of excessive adrenaline.
Combined with feelings of relaxation, you’ll see an improvement in your sleeping patterns.
Acupuncture increases the release of natural melatonin, which will contribute to better sleeping patterns. Since acupuncture helps to improve relaxation and quiet the mind, it also promotes sleep.
3. Provides Relief from Stress Headaches
No matter what type of stressor you’re dealing with, chances are you’re also getting tension headaches or even migraines. Scalp and neck muscles become tensed when you feel stressed. This tension makes its way into the nerve endings and creates a headache you may struggle to get rid of. Some patients feel relief from only a few acupuncture sessions, while others need to incorporate regular acupuncture sessions into their long-term self-care routines.
4. Boosts Energy
Stress is well known for draining energy levels and reducing mental clarity. This is why people who are overly stressed will also feel consistently tired and run down. During your first acupuncture session, you can expect relief in your parasympathetic nerves, which also promotes a feeling of calm.
When you combine this calm with some downtime away from the cause of your stress, you’ll be able to improve your mental clarity. Feeling relaxed leads to being more alert and energised. Your mood will improve, and you’ll feel considerably better.
Final Thoughts
Stress is one of the leading causes of many debilitating diseases and conditions. Dealing with daily stressors can be challenging, which is why experts recommend opting for a more holistic approach, such as regular acupuncture sessions. This not only helps to ease tension but also aids with mental clarity and improves sleep patterns. Adding acupuncture to your self-care routine is one of the best things you can do for yourself this year!
