Stress and Chiropractic: The Bathtub Analogy
Stress, Chiropractic & the Bathtub?
We discuss stress and chiropractic care a lot at NFC, but how does a bathtub fit within this conversation?
Well, it almost happened in my house the other night…
Someone in my house started running a bath, then got distracted and forgot it was even running. It was almost spilling over the sides and all across the floor! Needless to say, I was extremely relieved when I caught it just in time to prevent me from having to clean up a huge mess.
Fortunately, it got me thinking about one of our favorite ways to explain the benefits of chiropractic care, the Bathtub Analogy!
What does a bathtub have to do with stress and chiropractic care?
First, let’s talk about stress.
Stress is unavoidable. Although we can try to create an environment where we experience less stress, we cannot get rid of stress. It is a part of being alive. There are three kinds of stress (physical, mental/emotional, and chemical) that are a part of our daily lives in one way or another. This stress is consistent and builds up over time. In our bathtub analogy, the water flow represent your stress load and the bathtub is your body.
As time progresses, the water flow begins to fill the bathtub to capacity. In the case of my situation, I shut off the flow to keep the tub from running over. However, we can’t do that in life. We can’t shut off the stress. So, how do you keep the bathtub from overflowing?
Many people don’t know what to do. So, the bathtub (their body) begins to overflow. In this analogy, that overflow is symptoms. The overflowing bathtub symptom shows us that there is too much water in the bathtub. Consequently, we see that something needs to be done. It is obvious there is a stress overload. For many people this shows up in a lot of different ways like pain, frequent injury, infections, illnesses, etc.
The Temporary Fix
Typically, people only think about the fact that the bathtub is overflowing. They look at the symptom and use medicine to treat it. In our analogy, they put a cardboard box (medicine) around the bathtub to catch the overflow. Unfortunately, this is a TEMPORARY FIX. It might work for a little bit, but then it will stop working. The box will deteriorate and the water (stress) will continue to overflow – you guessed it – new symptoms show up! This often leads to another cardboard box, and another, and another attempting to contain the overflowing water.
THE ULTIMATE FIX
CHIROPRACTIC CARE addresses this issue in TWO ways!
- Each adjustment is like pulling the drain in your bathtub and releasing the water in a healthy, non-damaging way. This addresses the source of the problem, rather than the symptoms.
- Over time, the changes made through chiropractic care allow the bathtub to get larger. It allows you to handle MORE stress in your life by helping your body adapt to the stressors you encounter daily.
What we do at Niemeyer Family Chiropractic:
At NFC, we focus on the cause of the problem. We aren’t here to simply give people a quick fix, instead we are here to help them pull the drain frequently and work towards that bigger bathtub. Ultimately, we are here to improve your overall function and help your body do exactly what it was designed to do – heal well, think well, move well, and BE WELL.
If you want to learn more, schedule a consultation by requesting an appointment or giving us a call at (402)590-2199.