Whether physical or emotional, any imbalance of homeostasis can be a form of stress. It is normal for everyone to experience some degrees of stress from time to time. It may be caused by competing in sports, studying for exams, working on an important project, meeting work deadlines, juggling multiple jobs, just being a parent or many other things.
Causes of stress may be physical, financial or emotional. Some of these challenges such as fear, anxiety and grief, may be heightened during the current COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions. (National Institute of health, 2020; Australian Bureau of Statistics,2020).
When you are under the stress, your body releases hormones and other chemicals to prepare you for action. It is facilitating your response to a perceived threat or danger. This is commonly called the fight-or-flight response, or, stress response. You breathe faster, your heart rate increases, muscles tense up, blood sugar rises to give you energy, and your brain uses more oxygen as it shifts into high alert. But if stress lasts for a prolonged period of time, known as chronic stress, then it can cause wear and tear. Over time this can become harmful within your body. It can also present itself physically in the body in the form of muscle aches and pains, among other ailments.
The central nervous system (CNS), the endocrine system and the immune system are complex systems that all interact with each other (Glaser & Kiecolt-Glaser, 2005).
In a healthy metabolism the autonomic nervous system (ANS) is sufficiently resilient to create a healthy feedback loop between its sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
The sympathetic nervous system's primary process is to stimulate the body's fight or flight response. It is also constantly active at a basic level to maintain homeostasis, to keep the body in balance. Whereas the parasympathetic nervous system stimulates the body to "feed and breed" and to “rest-and-digest”. Thus, in between the two systems, your body maintains effective self-regulation (Pulvermacher, 2020).
The Hypothalamic - Pituitary - Adrenal Cortex (HPA) axis, is our central stress response system. This is where our CNS and endocrine system interweave. The HPA axis includes your hypothalamus, pituitary gland and adrenal glands.
The Hypothalamus is a small neuroendocrine structure located just above the brainstem. One of its functions is to control the release of hormones from the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland, which is just below the hypothalamus, releases hormones into the bloodstream. The hormones stimulate your kidneys and influence the secretion of other hormones from the adrenal glands. Your adrenal glands sit on top of the kidneys.
When you experience something stressful, your hypothalamus releases the hormone called Corticotropin Releasing Hormone (CRH). CRH signals the pituitary gland to secrete a hormone called the Adenocoticotropic Hormone (ACTH) into the bloodstream.
ACTH travels down to adrenal glands to release the hormone called Cortisol, also referred to as the “stress hormone” This goes into the bloodstream and sends signals back to the hypothalamus. This process is known as “negative feedback”. It is our body’s constant self regulation process to maintain homeostasis, or “body balance”. You can see a video of it here. (https//www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAeBKRaNriO&vl=en).
Cortisol hormones have both positive and negative impacts within our body. Normal levels of cortisol can help regulate your blood pressure and blood sugar levels. It can even strengthen your heart muscle too. In small doses, the hormone can heighten memory, increase your immune system and lower sensitivity to pain.
As described above, during the stress response, cortisol causes an increase in your heart rate and blood pressure. It triggers the natural “flight or fight” response to keep us alive.
However, as a result of our fast paced modern culture, many of us are constantly in this high stress mode. If your body experiences chronic stress, it will naturally secrete high levels of cortisol. When this happens often enough, or occurs for prolonged periods, you may begin to feel unpleasant and even experience dangerous effects, such as:
Fatigue
Irritability
Headaches
Intestinal problems, such as constipation, bloating or diarrhoea
Anxiety or depression
Weight gain
Increased blood pressure
Low libido, erectile dysfunction or problems with regular ovulation or menstrual cycles
Difficulty recovering from exercise
Poor sleep
Ref: https://www.premierhealth.com/your-health/articles/women-wisdom-wellness-/beware-high-levels-of-cortisol-the-stress-hormone
There are three phases of general adaptation syndrome (GAS) during a stress response. They are the alarm phase, resistance phase and exhaustion phase (Martini, 2006, p.626).
During the alarm phase, the sympathetic “fight-or-flight” response is activated with the release of CRH and ACTH. The alarm reaction is defensive and anti-inflammatory, but self-limited.
In the resistance phase, after the continuous alarm and stimulus, adaptation to the noxious stress occurs. Again cortisol levels will be increased. At this point, systemic homeostasis may return. If exposure to the stressor is prolonged however, exhaustion sets in. During this phase your endocrine activity increases and the HPA reflex can become pathological.
If this occurs, your autonomic nervous system loses its ability to self-regulate and the HPA axis becomes sympathetically over-activated. Your body is no longer kept in check by the mechanisms of the parasympathetic branch of the autonomics (Pulvermacher, 2020).
This type of exhaustion produces deleterious effects on the body systems. Especially the circulatory, digestive, and immune systems, that can lead to fatal conditions (Ferral, 2005, p.82).
Many studies have shown the psychological stress causes immune dysfunction that negatively impacts human health. This can include reducing the immune response to vaccines, slowing wound healing, or reactivating latent herpes - viruses, such as the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV). Prolonged stress can also increase the risk for more severe infectious disease. Chronic stress or depression can be linked to risks for conditions including cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, mental health complications, and some cancers (Godbout & Glaser, 2006).
Massage is also an excellent way to not only reduce mental stress, but to also help move fluids around the body. Wouldn’t it be nice for someone to touch your body therapeutically, to help release tense muscles and to help you relax. It is a great way to forget everything happening around you, breathe, and just feel totally relaxed.
Massage is well documented as a therapy to assist relaxation and reduce stress. It can calm anxiety and is of course a treatment for pain relief. It also enhances arterial and venous blood flow, reduces swelling and increases lymph flow. This process helps the body to shift from sympathetic to parasympathetic responses.
Massage encourages the prevention of fibrosis, increases the clearance of blood lactates, and removes the effects of stress on the immune system. While improving brain cognition and reducing pain, massage surely promotes healing. Another benefit is the restoring the normal functioning of connective tissues and muscles (Bervoets et al., 2015).
Massage also produces local biochemical changes within the body. These changes may lead to increased neural activity at the spinal cord level and in the subcortical nuclei. Such activity is known to affect one's mood and pain perception.
There are so many benefits massage therapy could potentially reduce anxiety, depression and pain. Another is by increasing serotonin, endorphin and dopamine production (Goats, 1994). This in turn decreases stress hormones such as cortisol and norepinephrine (Field et al., 2004).
Field Et Al, also reported in 2007 that following massage therapies, increased serotonin and dopamine not only improved mood and pain reduction, but may also have had improved immune function benefits by increasing natural killer (NK) cells. These cell are part of the front line defences of your immune system.
Furthermore, stimulation of pressure receptors via massage therapy (through friction and pressure) may be the underlying mechanism for increased NK cells and lymphocytes. It may decrease sympathetic and increase parasympathetic activity, leading to enhanced immune function.
Massage is obviously a great way to relieve stress and enhance your immune system. Although, you must not forget, maintaining a healthy diet and participating in regular exercise is also essential to your overall well being.
At Whistling Kite Healing Therapies, Abbey is a qualified massage therapist and Bowen Therapist too. She offers so many other healing modalities to achieve ultimate results in each session. So, why not make a booking now and get yourself up and running at your best again!
Reference List:
National Health of Institution. (2020), Mental Health Information. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/education-awareness/shareable-resources-on-coping-with-covid-19.shtml
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2020). Household Impacts of COVID-19 Survey, 14-17 Apr 2020 (cat. no. 4940.0). https://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/allprimarymainfeatures/86FF043DD0C1A1B8CA25856B0081D6F7?opendocument
Bervoets, D. C., Luijsterburg, P. AJ., Alessia, J. JN., Buijis, M. J., & Verhagen, A. P. (2015). Massage therapy has short-term benefits for people with common musculoskeletal disorders compared to no treatment: systematic review. Journal of Physiotherapy, 61, 106-116.
Martini, F. H. (2006). Fundamentals of Anatomy & Physiology (7th ed.). Pearson Education Inc.
Farrell, M. (2005). Smeltzer & Bare’s Textbook of Medical-Surgical Nursing. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Pty Ltd.
Field, T., Diego, M. & Hernandez-Reif, M. (2007). Massage therapy research. ScienceDirect: Developmental Review, 27, 75-89.
Field, T., Diego, M., Hernandez-Reif, M., Schanberg, S. & Kuhn, C. (2004). Massage therapy effects on depressed pregnant women. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics & Gynecology, 25, 115- 122.
Glaser, R. and Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (2005). Stress-induced immune dysfunction: implications for health. SCIENCE AND SOCIETY: Nature Reviews, Immunology, 5, 243 - 251.
Goats, G. C., (1994). Massage - the scientific basis of an ancient art: Part 2. Physiological and therapeutic effects. Br J Sp Med, 28 (3).
Godbout, J. P., & Glaser, R.(2006). Stress-Induced Immune Dysregulation: Implications for Wound Healing, Infectious Disease and Cancer. J Neuroimmune Pharm, 1, 421-427.
Pulvermacher, C. (2020). The Psoas System and The Fear Reflex: Webinar 1 - An integrative therapeutic approach, An ATMS Experiential Bodywork Webinar