Understanding the Stress and High Cortisol Conundrum, and 10 Ways To Fix It

Your body can do amazing things. Seriously—it’s built to adapt, protect, and keep you going, even when life throws curveballs your way. Whether you're juggling a million things at work, dealing with challenges at home, navigating grief, facing tough decisions, or helping your kid finish a last-minute school project (we’ve all been there!), your body is constantly working behind the scenes to handle the stress.But let’s be honest—when stress keeps piling on, it can feel like everything’s just too much. And your body starts to feel it too.. Over time, it causes imbalances in the body’s natural processes, including the overproduction of a hormone called cortisol. 

When this happens, even your body screams, “Enough is enough! I need some relief here!” In today’s blog post, we’ll dive into what stress is, what the cortisol fuss is all about, and if there is an effective solution to all of it.

Spoiler alert: Neurologically based chiropractic care might just be the game-changer you didn’t know you needed. But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves!

Understanding Stress and High Cortisol

The World Health Organization defines stress as a state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation. It is a natural human response that prompts us to address challenges (large or small, trivial or dangerous, internal or external) in our lives. Everyone experiences stress to some degree. How we respond to it makes a big difference to our overall well-being.

In small doses, stress isn’t such a bad thing. It is actually very normal and provides a litany of benefits in terms of daily activities, such as boosting our memory, creativity, and productivity, making us more resilient, and acting as a warning system in the face of threats. 

The key words here are “small doses.” When we are stressed, our body produces a chemical called cortisol. Perhaps you’ve heard it referred to as the stress hormone. Regardless, it is released from our adrenal glands near our kidneys to mobilize energy reserves and enhance alertness in times of perceived danger or stress. In small bursts, cortisol is actually super helpful. It’s your body’s way of saying, “Okay, let’s handle this!”—whether that’s a toddler meltdown, a work deadline, or the dog escaping out the front door (again).

For instance, if an angry dog gets off its leash and darts in your direction, your body will respond and help you run far, far away. 

If you are a mom in labor, your body naturally increases cortisol to help you and your baby through the process.

If you’re a quarterback at Lewisville High School and need to lead your team down the field in under a minute for the game-winning touchdown, the stress of the situation and increasing cortisol levels can boost energy, heighten alertness, and manage pain.

And yet, too much of a good thing is … you guessed it—a bad thing.

Continuous high levels of stress in the body and cortisol in the bloodstream have been proven to have a detrimental impact on various bodily functions. Furthermore, it has been known to weaken the immune system and cause many other side effects, including:

• Disruptions in sleep patterns

• Impaired cognitive functions

• Mood swings

• Digestive problems

• Headaches

• Muscle tension and pain

• Anxiety and depression

• Weight gain

• Increased heart rate and shallow breathing

• Susceptibility to infections and disease

10 Practical Ways To Fix Stress and High Cortisol

Before we get into our list, let’s start with the No. 1 reason why we do what we do here at Compassion Family Chiropractic. We believe we can help the harmful effects of chronic stress and resulting high cortisol levels naturally and, more importantly, effectively, through neurologically based chiropractic care. This gentle, non-invasive approach to chiropractic care addresses the underlying neurological factors contributing to various physical, mental, and emotional issues kids and adults experience every day. 

The bottom line is that while your nervous system is capable of telling every other system in the body what to do, how to do it, and when to do it, it isn’t immune to issues of its own. So many things can damage it, including diseases, accidents, toxins, aging, misalignments in the spine, and, you guessed it, chronic stress and high cortisol levels. 

With the gentle adjustments during a chiropractic visit, we see practice members of all ages lead happier, healthier, and more stress-free lives.

A few of the benefits of neurologically based chiropractic can include restoring nervous system balance, reducing pain and physical tension, lowering cortisol to a healthier level, and helping you improve sleep patterns, thus resulting in less stress and anxiety.

As for additional tips between chiropractic visits, we suggest:

1. Consider massage therapy

2. Make deep breathing a cornerstone of your day

3. Practice mindfulness and prayer

4. Eat whole foods and stay active

5. Sleep 8 or more hours each night

6. Find ways to laugh more

7. Keep a journal

8. Take time for hobbies and downtime

9. Seek professional counseling (We have some great community connections we could recommend)

We get it—prolonged stress isn’t fun and can really be a Debbie Downer. But with the right mindset and the willingness to incorporate the tips above, we believe you can take more control of your stress! The first step is to come see us. We’d love to help!

Call Compassion Family Chiropractic Today!!

At Compassion Family Chiropractic in Lewisville, TX, our goal is for you and your family to feel like a part of ours. On your first visit, you will be greeted by warm smiles and a whole team that is happy and willing to serve you. We aim to provide you with the most thorough and effective chiropractic care available while treating you with unparalleled service all along the way.

We look forward to the opportunity to become your family’s home for chiropractic care in Lewisville!

Call us today at (469) 240-2322. To learn more about Dr. David Ravdin, click here.