Stress and pain

Stress and pain can become a vicious cycle. In this blog, we look at the relationship between them and share some stress busting tips.

We see a lot of patients in our clinic who are stressed and in pain. This is because being in pain can not only cause you stress and anxiety; stress and anxiety can also cause you pain.

What is stress?

Stress is your body’s reaction to feeling threatened or under pressure. It is the feeling you get when your body goes into ‘fight or flight’ mode. When you’re stressed, your body releases adrenalin, which can help give you a boost and motivate you to get things done. However, if you are under high amounts of stress for prolonged periods of time, it can have an adverse effect on you both physically and mentally.

Stress and pain

Physical symptoms of stress can include:

• headaches and dizziness
• jaw or ear pain
• muscle soreness, tension or pain
• pain spasms
• stomach problems
• chest pain

It can also lead to flare-ups of symptoms of arthritis, fibromyalgia and other conditions.

How does stress cause pain?

There are many reasons why stress causes pain. Jaw, ear or head pain is a result of clenching your jaw or grinding your teeth when stressed. The same applies to tension headaches and tightness in the neck and shoulders. Muscle pain and spasms can occur as stress causes you to tense up your muscles. Over time this can lead to soreness in any part of the body. However stress related pain is most often found in the neck, back and shoulders.

Another reason stress causes pain is because it causes the levels of the hormone cortisol to rise. Widely known as the ‘stress hormone’, cortisol is released by the adrenal glands. If you are under constant stress your body can become flooded with cortisol which, over time, can cause inflammation, pain and fatigue.

Stress and chronic pain

Chronic pain is typically defined as a pain that does not subside after a natural healing period of three months. And while stress does not cause chronic pain, it can make chronic pain worse, as it lowers your threshold for pain. This is because the over production of cortisol can also compromise your immune response, which has long been recognised as important in pain regulation.

Tips on how to tackle stress

Essentially, when it comes to stress and pain, the undeniable fact is that less stress helps you cope better with pain. As such, whether stress is causing you pain or making your chronic pain worse, working to reduce your stress levels is key to helping reduce your pain levels. So start getting on top of your stress levels with these stress busting tips:

1. Adopt a healthy lifestyle

Our bodies are much better equipped to deal with stress if we eat a healthy diet, drink enough water, exercise regularly and ensure we get enough sleep and rest. Exercise helps challenge the physical changes that occur within your body due to stress. Relaxation helps your body return to its normal healthy state.

2. Meditate

Meditation and breathwork are effective in reducing stress and anxiety as well as boosting your immune system. Try this 60 second stress relieving breathing exercise from the International Stress Management Association for a start.

3. Avoid alcohol, nicotine and caffeine

Unfortunately using the above as coping mechanisms will in the end just add to the problem. Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants, meaning if you have too much, your body will react with a stress response. Alcohol is a depressant. Try to avoid all three as much as possible if you’re stressed.

4. Learn to manage your time more effectively

Having a lot on your plate can feel overwhelming and result in a lack of productivity, especially if you’re stressed. Combat this by making a list of what you need to do at the start of the day. Prioritise the top three most urgent jobs and do them first. Don’t put off the jobs that you find hard either, as avoidance causes a great deal of stress. Focus on the hard tasks and do them first so you can get on with the rest of the day.

5. Take a break

Taking regular short 10 to 15 minute breaks during your working day will help with your productivity and help you perform more effectively when you are working.

6. Know your limits

Stress is an adverse reaction to excessive pressure. This can be pressure you put on yourself or pressure placed on you by others. Know your limits and know when it’s time to delegate tasks, set boundaries or simply say ‘no’. It sometimes feels like we’re letting others down when we say ‘no’ but it’s important to prioritise your own health and wellbeing too.

7. Find time to meet friends

Hanging out with friends and talking through our problems can often help us see things in a different light. The activities we engage in with friends also help us relax and if you manage to have a good laugh, even better. It boosts the immune system that is often depleted during times of stress.

8. Develop a positive thinking style

If something is concerning you, try to see it differently. Talk over your problem with somebody before it gets out of proportion. Talking to someone else about a problem, whether it’s a friend, colleague or family member will often help you see things from a different and less stressful perspective and work out a solution.

9. Learn to accept things you can’t change

While we all like to solve a problem, there will also be things that are out of your control and that you can’t change. Try to be flexible and focus on the things you do have control over to help overcome the stress of the situation. Don’t be afraid to see professional help if necessary either.

For more tips on how to tackle stress, visit the International Stress Management Association website.

We hope that this helps, but if you are stressed because of pain and want to find out what’s causing it, give us a call on 0117 972 3518 to see how our chiropractors and osteopaths can help.