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Australian Chiropractors
Urge Reduction in Emotional Stress to Help Spine
From the Australian news service "F2 Network" comes an
article that informs people that emotional stress can
have a negative effect on the spine. The article, dated
January 6, 2003 quotes Dr. Anthony Coxon, President of
the Chiropractor's Association of Australia (Victoria)
who says, "While most people understood that physical
stress can cause back pain, emotional pressure can also
affect the spine. Many people think of back problems as
being the result of physical knocks, bad posture and
lifting things the wrong way. But all emotions will
trigger a response in the nervous system. In particular,
emotional stress can result in back and neck pain caused
by vertebral subluxations (partial dislocations)."
The article notes that vertebral subluxations happen
when the bones of your spine are locked in an abnormal
position and interfere with the correct functioning of
the nervous system. Dr Coxon said a recent study showed
a direct link between psychological stress and increased
loading on the spine, but that the effects vary from
person to person with "introverts" being affected the
most.
Dr Coxon explained how the study was conducted.
"Participants in the study were hooked up to a lumbar
motion monitor and automatic blood pressure and heart
rate monitors, then asked to lift an object five times."
Dr Coxon continued, "Participants were also required to
fill out personality profiles. Before each experiment
was completed, the session was interrupted and the
tester left the room." He then explained that during the
first stage the tester was friendly and encouraging, but
on return they became agitated and highly critical of
the participant.
"The introduction of stress into the activity had
significant detrimental effects on the spine and
surrounding muscles. There was an immediate increase in
muscle activity and load on the spine." Dr Coxon said
the study showed that the effects of stress varied
according to gender and that `introverts', `intuitors'
and `thinkers' bore the brunt of the pressure. |
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