Hands On Mobile Therapies

Sharon O’Carroll

Complementary Therapist

087 9515 534

 

 

 

Stress – Cause, effect, solution…..

 

Stress is any fact that threatens our physical or mental well-being. Such factors can be imagined (worry about the future) or real (financial problems). It is not the factor itself that is damaging but the response to it. Some people have very stressful lives but manage stress so that it does not affect them whereas for others even the slightest worry can have damaging consequences. Positive stress is necessary for some people because it helps them perform to the best of their abilities. Negative stress, however, is any factor which causes us to respond by worrying, panicking or losing our concentration. Think about it – is that you or someone you know? Want to know what is happening to the body affected? Read on…..

 

How is stress damaging?

It has been estimated that stress is the cause of 75% of disease. That is quite a sweeping statistic, but think about it…. In the short term, as a response to perceived danger, stress is literally life-saving. If we didn’t feel stress we would not make the effort to cross the road a little faster to get out of the way of an approaching car, or to perform to the best of or abilities to win a sports match or competition. However, in the long term, if a person continues to feel stress in response to external factors but does nothing either to remove the cause of the stress or to respond to it differently, the stress reaction can be damaging. The body remains in a state of alert and eventually this will have a physical effect on the systems concerned.

 

How does stress affect us?

The body has always had to respond to stress. Thousands of years ago, stress factors were more physical. Humans needed to hunt for their food, protect themselves from wild animals and secure shelter. In the 21st Century stress factors are likely to be more intangible, e.g. job insecurity, worrying about relationship difficulties or irritation about traffic jams. However, the effects of stress are exactly the same whether the threat is an angry boss or an angry buffalo! The body, perceiving danger, prepares to face it or run away (the fight or flight syndrome). Several systems shut down and the body works to conserve energy to enable movement and escape. Adrenaline rushes into the body to warn of impending danger and the heart rate increases, the blood vessels contract increasing blood pressure, the digestive functions shut down and the muscles contract.

If the perceived danger is then either removed or escaped from, the stress response has achieved its aim and the body relaxes. However, usually, it is not easy to get away from the cause of the stress. Most stress factors are no longer responded to with activity. It is very hard for an office worker to run away from an annoying problem or colleague. As a result the body remains tense and cannot relax. It is this unused response mechanism which is damaging.

 

What are the symptoms of stress?

Anyone who has ever been nervous about an interview, exam, meeting or important sports event has felt some of the symptoms of stress. These include: churning stomach or ‘butterflies’, racing heart or palpitations, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, trembling, insomnia, sweating. In the medium term these symptoms, left untreated, may cause chest pains, allergies, persistent insomnia, high blood pressure, abdominal pain, migraines, depression, ulcers, asthma and infections. In the long term constant stress is known to cause heart disease, strokes, cancer and angina.

 

How can stress be cured?

Stress in itself cannot be ‘cured’ because threats to our well-being will always exist around us. However, it is not the threat but the way it is perceived and responded to that is most important. If stress is managed, it is no longer damaging, e.g. if struck in traffic, one driver may become enraged whereas another will accept that this is a normal situation in a busy area. The first driver is responding to stress, the second is managing it. However, the actual stress factor itself is the same.

 

How can stress be managed?

By learning to respond in a healthier way and by using relaxation techniques. We cannot simply tell our bodies to relax; we have to learn how to relax them, via relaxing activities, such as walking, seeing friends or going to the cinema, as well as specific breathing, visualisation, relaxation techniques and massage.

 

How can massage help?

When the body is stressed it must work harder than usual in order to remain balanced. Hence, stressed people tend to over-use conventional relaxation methods such as drinking and smoking in order to be calm. However, too much alcohol or nicotine can have an adverse effect on the body in the long run whereas an holistic treatment such as massage can help induce deep relaxation, helping to remove pent-up tension of the stress response, without damaging the body. Furthermore, it is easy to forget what deep relaxation feels like and many clients are unaware of how much tension they hold in their body. By relaxing them properly, massage enables them to be more aware of what tension feels like which in turn helps them to release it. Massage also enables the client to avoid stress altogether. When the body is relaxed, problems and events tend to seem less daunting so the client will not feel as threatened and stressed, which in turn will prevent tension building up.

 

How does massage treat stress and its effects?

 

Massage treats stress in several ways:

 

· It is a treatment that relies on touch, one of the most neglected senses. The touch sustained through massage can boost self-esteem and comfort the lonely or bereaved

· It boosts the immune system, which is weakened by constant stress, stimulates the circulation and lymphatic system, increases energy levels and induces calm in both mind and body

· It releases endorphins, the pain-relieving happy hormones

· It stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which slows the body down, encourages deeper breathing, lowers heart rate and switches digestion back on

· It relaxes all the systems of the body, which either shut down or speed up when stressed, and thus helps with stress-related conditions such as insomnia, headaches, backache and constipation

· It helps treat depression and symptoms such as low self-esteem by boosting well-being which in turn increases self-worth

· It stimulates the body’s natural ability to repair and renew, at cellular level

 

Massage for restoring health

Massage can be very useful as part of rehabilitation treatment after illness. This isn’t new – the Chinese have been aware of the benefits for thousands of years! It helps the body to help itself - to restore fitness and a sense of well-being. Remember the last time you were sick? Illness weakens the mind and body but it often causes anxiety and insecurity as well, which themselves lead to stress and stress-related illnesses. Furthermore, long periods spent recovering in bed can be the cause of poor circulation, constipation, loss of muscle tone, stiff and sore joints and dull, congested skin. On a physical level massage gets the bodies systems working efficiently again; which may have become sluggish or congested, stimulating poor circulation, boosting immunity, helping the removal of waste from the body, improving skin tone and elasticity and helping muscles recover their flexibility and strength. Psychologically, massage can help the patient to feel better about their health and get back their feeling of being well. All treatments should be approved by a GP, particularly after surgery.

 

Stress