Why does “Sensory Overload” Happen and What Can You Do About It?

Have you ever heard the phrase or thought to yourself, “I can't hear myself think!”? I hear this from so many of my patients that are parents. By the time the kids head to bed, the noise and constant touching has become too much. That, my friends, is Sensory Overload.

Why does Sensory Overload happen? Lets start with how our senses work. Your sensory nerves send information to your brain and your brain has to integrate that information and decide what to do with it. For example, your fingertips feel a fuzzy sweater. The nerves in your fingertips tell your brain that the sweater is fuzzy and you experience that sweater as fuzzy.

When your brain is unable to handle the amount of information that your nerves are sending it, you experience Sensory Overload. Your brain isn't able to appropriately integrate all of that information. So noises seem louder than normal or you feel more sensitive to touch.

This happens with kids as well! Ever seen a three-year-old melting down at Disneyland? Sensory Overload. Their brain can't handle all the sensory stimulus from the music, lights, people, and rides. They don't know what else to do, so they melt down.

Chiropractic adjustments help reset the nervous system so that the brain has a higher capacity to integrate sensory information. Adjustments are like cleaning your browser's cookies and restarting your computer. Suddenly, your computer is able to perform faster and better than before. Adjustments help increase your brain's bandwidth so it can deal with increased sensory input. That helps your kids (and you) avoid meltdowns when the noise in the car gets to be too much.

If you notice that you are getting overwhelmed easily by the noise at suppertime give me a call. Your nervous system needs a reset. I love helping parents and kids be calmer and better at handling stressful situations!