Restore Your Baseline Stress Response with Acupuncture

We all know that chronic stress is bad for our health.  But once your shoulders are glued to your ears and your upper back muscles are tight as a drum, it’s nearly impossible to just light a candle and meditate or use deep breathing to relax.  Our bodies lock into fight or flight mode and unfortunately there isn’t a manual off button that we can use to let our brain know we’re not being chased by the bear. 

Acupuncture is a super-star when chronic stress has its grip on you.  Research shows us that people with stress that goes unchecked for days, weeks, or years have an imbalance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.  This means you really have lost the ability to turn off the stress response like your body was designed.  Studies show that acupuncture treatment causes autonomic remodeling, reducing the sympathetic activity and increasing the parasympathetic so you can rest again.  Studies also show that acupuncture shifts your neurochemistry, increasing our ‘happy’ hormones, such as serotonin and epinephrine, and decreasing our main ‘stress’ hormone, cortisol. 

The bonus feature of acupuncture is that all these benefits happen during a treatment so that within 30-45 minutes, you get up feeling happier, more relaxed, with a lower blood pressure and heart rate.  In cases of severe anxiety or panic attacks, it may take 2-4 weekly sessions to feel like the benefits stick with you throughout the week.  Most people using acupuncture for stress management get to a point where they schedule monthly treatments and maintain their results well. 

Acupuncture points for stress often include a spot between your eyebrows, some on the outside of your ear, on the wrists and ankles.  Sometimes a treatment utilizing the points along the spine can serve as a ‘reset’ for your nervous system.  There are many ways to treat stress with acupuncture and our biggest goal is that you feel relaxed and comfortable during your treatment.

Now come see us and get your shoulders out of your ears!  Call Raleigh at 919-854-7311 or Chapel Hill at 919-933-4480 to schedule your acupuncture appointment for stress.  Or you can even book with us Online.