As your neighbor’s dog barks well into the night, you lie awake on an uncomfortable mattress feeling the same aches and pains that have kept you awake for weeks. Your neck and back ache like crazy. You might try a massage if you could find the time in your hectic schedule, but your mother-in-law is visiting next week and you still have to finish that quarterly report to the board. Stress has become more than an irritant in your life. Stress is now causing you to suffer, impacting your quality of life.

When we experience stress, our heart rate increases, our muscles grow tight, our blood pressure rises, and we feel nervous and out of control. The immune system breaks down and you are more vulnerable to illness. Stress can also cause your body to feel tight, stiff, and old before its time.

When stress is ignored, you can develop chronic stress which has been proven to raise the risk of heart disease, cancer, osteoporosis, stroke, and other illnesses. Chronic stress also results in headaches, ulcers, insomnia, depression, stomachaches, even memory lapses.

In a healthy person, the brain and nervous system are in constant communication with every cell of your body? The body communicates by using a complex system of nerves to all of your muscles, bones, blood vessels, organs and systems to keep you healthy. This is how your body knows when to breathe, how to walk, and how to adapt itself to its environment and alleviate stress. When you ignore your body’s signals of high stress levels, or if your body has a communication breakdown in the nerve system, you may develop more serious health issues like those listed above.

Chiropractors can perform several non-invasive tests that can detect the effects of stress on your nervous system. Examples of these tests include strength tests, weight balance tests and muscle tests. Patients can even opt for Space Foundation certified technology that many chiropractors are now using, which is the same testing that was used to examine the astronauts in the space program.