How Your Nervous System Holds the Key to Healing
We all know stress has a price. But here in Columbus, Ohio, the cost goes far beyond the money spent on medications or counseling. In 2019 alone, more than $32 billion was spent on adult mental health disorders nationwide. Yet every day, we see the hidden toll stress takes on families across Polaris, Westerville, and Galena—from sleep loss to strained relationships to chronic health issues.
At inThrive Chiropractic, we help people understand that stress is not just emotional—it’s neurological.
When Stress Follows You Home
Whether you’re working long hours downtown, running a household, or juggling both, stress doesn’t stay behind at the office. It follows you home and affects how you show up for the people you love.
Research shows that chronic stress increases marital strain and divorce rates, while also altering parent-child dynamics. The frustration, irritability, and tension that build during the day often resurface at home, changing how families communicate and connect.
Over time, these subtle shifts can erode your energy, patience, and joy—making “just getting through the day” feel like a full-time job.
What Stress Does to the Body
When stress becomes constant, it changes your body’s chemistry. Your nervous system gets stuck in fight-or-flight, and your body begins to pay the price:
- Blood pressure increases
- Cholesterol rises, even without dietary changes
- Sleep decreases, and your body’s ability to heal slows down
Eventually, your body can’t keep up. It shifts from fight-or-flight to freeze, leaving you feeling emotionally numb, disconnected, and exhausted.
Why a Chiropractor in Columbus Cares About Stress
You might be asking, “Why is a chiropractor talking about stress?”
Because chiropractic care is about far more than back pain—it’s about the nervous system that connects your brain and body.
When Dr. Randy adjusts the spine, it helps your brain communicate better. Research led by Dr. Heidi Haavik, a neurophysiologist and chiropractor from New Zealand, has shown that chiropractic adjustments can directly influence the prefrontal cortex—the area of the brain responsible for focus, decision-making, emotional control, and higher-level thinking.
In Dr. Haavik’s studies, spinal adjustments were found to improve prefrontal cortex function, increasing activity in the part of the brain that helps us stay calm and think clearly. This is the very opposite of what happens when we’re in a stressed state.
Measuring Your Stress Load
At inThrive Chiropractic, located near Polaris in Columbus, Ohio, we use technology to see how stress is affecting your nervous system.
- Heart Rate Variability (HRV): Measures how well your body adapts to stress.
- Thermography Scans: Show where nerve tension and inflammation are creating interference.
These scans give us a clear picture of whether your system is stuck in fight, flight, or freeze—and how your body improves as your nervous system calms and reconnects.
What Healing Feels Like
When your body starts to thaw from years of built-up stress, emotions often surface. Some patients say, “I feel like crying,” or “I didn’t realize how tense I was until now.”
That’s healing in motion.
Your nervous system is reconnecting to your emotions. You’re not breaking down—you’re breaking through. As balance returns, so does peace, patience, and presence.
We often see patients notice:
- Better focus and mental clarity
- Calmer reactions to daily stress
- Deeper, more restorative sleep
- A renewed sense of connection at home and work
Chiropractic and Emotional Health Go Hand in Hand
Chiropractic is not a replacement for therapy—but it creates the foundation your brain needs to think, process, and heal. When your nervous system is calm, your brain can connect the dots and your body can repair itself more effectively.
As Dr. Randy often says:
“An anxious nervous system can’t process. A calm one can.”
By restoring communication between your spine and brain, chiropractic care helps you operate from the part of your brain designed for growth and healing—not just survival.
A Whole-Brain Approach to Wellness
A favorite book among our team, The Whole-Brain Child, explains how different parts of the brain must work together to create emotional balance and resilience. Chiropractic helps integrate those systems by stimulating the top brain—your calm, logical center—so you can respond thoughtfully instead of reacting impulsively.
This is where the science of chiropractic and the art of emotional healing meet.
Ready to Calm the Chaos?
If stress has taken control of your health, sleep, or family life, it’s time to do something different. At inThrive Chiropractic, we’ve helped families across Columbus, Galena, and Westerville retrain their nervous systems to find calm, connection, and clarity again.
Your nervous system is the foundation of every thought, feeling, and function. Let’s get it working for you again—so you can heal, rest, and truly thrive.
CONTACT US