Untitled-design-2021-03-25T145051.502 DO PHYSICAL THERAPISTS RECOMMEND MASSAGE GUNS? | PHYSICAL THERAPIST IN UNIVERSITY CITY MO

HOW PHYSICAL THERAPY COMBATS STRESS

You have left the office, but your head is still filled with work stuff. You’re preoccupied with how long your to-do list is, your full inbox, what tomorrow has in store for you not to forget what you still have planned out for the evening. We’ve all been there. No amount of coffee can get you psyched for stuff and help you with that headache you can’t seem to shake off. And if you were to think about it, it prevents you from being efficient in anything you do.
If this is familiar to you, it is not something you should take for granted or dismiss as your version of normal. You need to beware that stress-related headaches are a real threat to your mental wellbeing. While turning to medicine will help relieve the pain, it does not really address the underlying issues that cause the headache. It is all well and good to know that it is stress-related, but you have to deal with the issues causing your pain above all else. It is the only way to guarantee that it will go away and that you will not be dependent on pain medication or, worse, develop a chronic condition from something that was treatable to start with.
Headaches caused by stress stem from physical tension of the body and hormonal surges that you go through during your workday. The way you push yourself to high performance and productivity may be forcing you to carry a lot of stress through the day, and you may be unaware of it. That said, you may be sitting on a chair that is not ergonomic enough for you, and most likely, because of that, your posture is also wrong. Add this to the frustration of commuting and traffic and sometimes the complex nature of the job, and at the end of the day, you might start to feel like taking the head off your body and giving it a break. If only we had spare heads.

Physical therapy has been proven to relieve stress, and here is how:

• Reducing tension pent up on the neck, shoulders, and back.

In a physical therapy session, the physical therapists will always start with getting you relaxed with stretching exercises targeted at relieving the tension you have pent up in your neck, shoulders, and back regions. More often than not, these stretches do not need any equipment, and you can easily repeat them by yourself at home. With the direction of a physical therapist, you can pick out exercises that you can execute safely on your own.

• Relieving tension in the jaws.

Most people tend to bite down or gnash their teeth when they are stressed. It builds up tension in the jaws, and many people hold this tension unawares, leading to stress build-up. Your physical therapist at RPI Therapy Services can help you alleviate this tension with Manual therapy and dry needling. They can also determine if a mouth guard is necessary to prevent teeth grinding.

• Helping with muscle relaxation.

It takes more energy and concentration with tensed-up muscles. Your therapist will help you with muscle relaxation techniques. In the event of a stressful situation, these techniques will numb the effects of the stress by improving your calmness under duress or breathing techniques and preventing constricting muscles all through. This, to a more significant impact, helps to reduce stress-related headaches.
It is a common myth that you need physical therapy after some life-changing moment like an accident or severe injury. On the contrary, you can use physical therapy preemptively to relieve stress and improve your life’s general quality. Stress-related headaches can cause more damage than just the discomfort you experience initially. Make sure to contact RPI Therapy Services or your local physical therapy clinic to know how you too can benefit from manual Physical therapy.