In last month's column, I talked about stress getting a lot of lip service. People tend to commiserate with others so they can feel good doing nothing about their stress. I, too, like to do it once in a while. There is a false sense of relief when I get to complain with others.

Why aren't we motivated to improve our situations? It seems as if the more we learn about health and wellness, the less intelligent we become. Despite all the talk of increased awareness, there has been an alarming increase in diseases especially infectious, autoimmune, chronic degenerative diseases and mental illness.

My only conclusion is that we knowingly ignore risk factors. The biggest reason is people have a high tolerance for sickness. We accept it as a part of life. With the rise of health care costs related to obesity, smoking, drinking, lack of exercise and negative thinking, it appears as if prevention is not inspiring.

However, it is not all our fault. Our basic biology is partly to blame.

The body puts up with a lot before it actually breaks down. The nervous system can withstand the early affects of stress. It downgrades stress signals until there is a significant amount. That means there are no pain signals from the brain until stress becomes overwhelming. We can still function on little sleep, poor diet and ongoing emotional upheaval for quite a while.

Here's the bad news.

While stress is building up in the body with no symptoms, physical damage is occurring. When early symptoms appear, they often are annoying but not severe. They often come and go so we forget about them. This is how we build up our tolerance for sickness. We “live with it,” and habitually ignore the subtle signs of stress damage.

A chiropractic evaluation provides information about these simple symptoms. Bad posture, joint stiffness, fatigue, headaches, stomach pains and allergies are just some of the early signs that stress has already taken a toll resulting in poor healing. Because chiropractic's goal is to help the body heal, addressing the early stages of stress is very important.

Stress damage is the same regardless of its source. Whether stress is chemical, physical or emotional, it impacts healing at the nervous system which has a negative ripple effect to the other tissues and organs. Chiropractic addresses barriers to healing by starting at the spine and nerves. It also enhances health if utilized when symptoms are not present.

Studies of chiropractic care, when patients did not have pain or illness, showed positive improvements in cardiovascular, endocrine, immune and neurocognitive function, along with muscle strength and reaction time. People who feel good can feel better than they could ever imagine.

People don't notice they are “falling apart” until something disrupts their daily life. We could say it's human nature because we are so busy. Discussing stress and prevention tends to make people yawn with boredom. However, when utilized consistently, chiropractic makes stress management less complicated and more successful.

Lisa Ann Homic, M.Ed. D.C., may be contacted at www.DrHomic.com