Posture & Wellness
Stress-Related Muscle Tension
Persistent tightness that tracks with workload, sleep and stress rather than with injury.
Also called: Tension from stress, Stress-related neck and shoulder tightness.
Many people describe tension that has no mechanical starting point and rises and falls with what is happening in their life.
It commonly settles in the neck, shoulders and jaw, and it can be present even when there is no specific injury or postural cause to point to.
Why this matters
It affects sleep and recovery, and it is one of the patterns that a stress-response measurement can actually show rather than guess at.
Because it often comes and goes with life circumstances, people can mistake it for a purely mechanical problem when the underlying driver is closer to how the body is managing stress.
The brain & nervous-system connection
Where the nervous system fits in
The balance between the stress and recovery sides of the autonomic nervous system is exactly what the NeuroInfiniti evaluation measures.
Measuring how well the body shifts between stress and recovery states gives an objective way to understand tension that a hands-on exam alone cannot fully explain.
What we look at
We look for patterns, not a single test
- Detailed health history and consultation
- NeuroInfiniti Stress Response Evaluation
- Posture and movement
- Balance and coordination testing
- Eye movement or neurological screening when appropriate
- Grip or motor-function testing when appropriate
- Palpation and spinal function
- Other examination procedures based on the individual
Not every person receives every test. What we perform depends on your history, your age and what the examination shows as we go.
Scope of care
What this does — and doesn't — mean
What we do
- • We evaluate chiropractic and musculoskeletal function.
- • We look at nervous-system-related functional findings that fall within our scope.
- • We assess movement, balance and coordination findings.
- • We measure stress-response patterns with the NeuroInfiniti evaluation.
- • We make individualized chiropractic care recommendations and re-measure over time.
What we don't claim
- • We do not diagnose, treat or cure diseases.
- • Chiropractic care is not a treatment for dementia, Alzheimer's disease or other neurological diseases.
- • Chiropractic care is not a replacement for medical care, testing or medication.
- • No outcome is promised. Results vary from person to person.
Common questions
- Is this something chiropractic care can help with?
- We evaluate the nervous system patterns behind this kind of tension and can often help. If something else appears to be driving it, we will say so and point you toward the right resource.
When medical evaluation may be needed
Some symptoms need medical evaluation first. If anything in your history or examination suggests that, we will say so and help point you in the right direction.
Related at Foothills Chiropractic
- Stress, Sleep & Nervous-System Regulation — How well you shift between stress and recovery is something we can measure with the NeuroInfiniti evaluation.
- Chronic Fatigue & Brain Fog — Persistent tiredness and mental cloudiness that deserve proper medical evaluation first.
- Chronic Pain — Pain that has outlasted the expected healing time for the original problem.
- Dysautonomia — A medically managed group of conditions affecting automatic body functions.
Think Foothills Chiropractic might be right for you?
Start Here walks you through what the process looks like, so you can decide whether taking the next step makes sense for you.