Managing the stress in your life — and most of us have it to one degree or another — is essential to keeping a healthy lifestyle.

Stress comes from many directions and makes itself known in a variety of ways. It might show up as a headache, tight muscles, nausea or back pain. It’s generally caused by outside factors, some obvious, like fretting over financial problems, and others not so much, maybe even planning for a joyous occasion like an impending wedding.

Walking may be, pound for pound, the most accessible, beneficial and inexpensive form of exercise available. The American Chiropractic Association recommends it as a way to stay fit.

Spinal manipulation is a primary therapy, but the number of treatment options is expanding.

Chiropractic is a system of therapy focused on the structure of the body, particularly the spine. Chiropractors manipulate the body’s alignment to relieve pain and improve function and to help the body heal itself.

Several non-pharmacological therapies — including spinal manipulation, therapeutic exercise, and relaxation techniques — are typically offered by chiropractors, and are recommended as first-line or adjunctive therapy for spinal pain. The utilization of chiropractic care has been reported to be associated with reduced risk of adverse drug events in adults with spinal pain. Large scale observational studies have found that chiropractic care is associated with decreased use of opioids.

The very nature of the job puts soldiers at an increased risk for developing chronic pain. The regular demands and stress are often multiplied when the tough-it-out mentality does not seek medical attention until serious, chronic pain results ... and it often does. Cumulative stress, single-event trauma, and surgery are all contributing factors. Although these will likely remain a constant of military service, chiropractic care may be a very helpful solution.

Opioid pain-relieving medicines are not more effective than a placebo in relieving acute back and neck pain and may even cause harm, according to a recent trial. The researchers say this is proof that treatment guidelines should be updated to advise against the use of opioids for this purpose.

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018 approved a plan to expand access to chiropractic’s nondrug approach to pain relief to veterans, many of whom suffer from back pain and other musculoskeletal conditions resulting from their service.

A new study published in BMJ Open sheds light on potential benefits of chiropractic care for adults with radicular low back pain (i.e., sciatica). The study looked at the relationship between chiropractic spinal manipulative therapy (CSMT) and the prescription of gabapentin, an off-label treatment for radicular low back pain.

The pendulum of opioid prescribing for pain has swung sharply in the last decade, as the epidemic of opioid overuse, addiction and overdose has led policy makers and health care providers to ratchet back on the prescriptions patients receive.

But for about 5 million Americans who have taken prescription opioids for years to address their chronic pain, that pendulum swing has led to trouble getting refills, finding new providers when their former ones retire or relocate, or getting access to multi-modal pain care that goes beyond pills.

There aren’t many large studies on the value of chiropractic treatment in managing migraines. One study examined chiropractic treatment for different types of headaches, including migraines. The study combined the results of 22 studies, which included more than 2,600 patients total. The studies show that chiropractic treatment may serve as a good preventive treatment for migraines.