Muscle pain in your back, shoulders or neck? It could be due to stress!
Do you regularly suffer from back pain? Or are the muscles in your neck tense? Then it may well be that you are perhaps unknowingly experiencing an awful lot of stress. You probably already knew that stress has adverse effects on our bodies. Many people become tired, get headaches or feel less or more like eating, for instance. But did you also know that stress can cause muscle pain? In this blog, we explain what happens in your body and what you can do yourself to reduce muscle pain.
What happens in your body due to stress?
Stress has a major impact on our bodies. Besides the often recognisable hunted feeling, a lot more happens physically. Stress increases your heart rate and causes you to breathe faster. In addition, your body produces the stress hormone Cortisol. Often, the symptoms go away quickly once you have calmed down a bit. However, if you experience stress for a longer period of time, your body cannot recover properly and you will also notice this physically.
Physical symptoms of prolonged stress:
- Fatigue
- Abdominal pain and digestive disturbance
- Headache
- Increased muscle tension, in your back, shoulders and neck, for example
Muscle pain due to increased muscle tension
Stress causes your body to tighten the muscles; the connective tissue tightens around the muscles, restricting your movement. The increased muscle tension and restriction of movement can cause you to experience muscle pain. Muscle pain due to stress is common in our back, shoulders and neck. Muscle pain in this region can then also lead to tension headaches. Often, the balance between exertion and relaxation of the muscles is disturbed.
Reduce muscle soreness caused by stress with our 3 tips
Tip 1: Get moving!
Stress may cause you to have less energy and muscle pain does not invite you to move. Especially in this case, it is important to do so! Exercise ensures good circulation and helps loosen up your muscles. It also allows your muscles to relax better afterwards. A positive consequence of exercise is also the production of Endorphins in your body; the hormone that makes you feel happy. So get up from the sofa and go for a nice walk! Or push yourself to spend an hour cleaning the house.
Tip 2: Make sure you relax enough
Just because your body needs exercise against muscle pain caused by stress does not mean that you should always be 'on'. Both physically and mentally, we also need relaxation in time to recover. Do you struggle to relax enough? Then try a relaxation exercise, a gentle yoga session or mindfulness training.
Tip 3: Get enough sleep
During our sleep, our muscles repair and relax. Enough sleep also ensures that you are better rested and can cope with more mentally. So in all respects, good and sufficient sleep is important when dealing with stress. Do you have trouble falling asleep? Try listening to soothing sleep sounds and relax completely. Download the app for iOs or Android.
Psychosomatic physiotherapy for stress
Do you want help resolving long-term stress-related symptoms? Then psychosomatic physiotherapy may be a solution. Psychosomatics focuses on relaxation and your breathing and addresses physical complaints caused by stress. It helps you reduce and control stress, which often reduces your symptoms as well. Read more about our psychosomatic therapy here.
Need help reducing muscle pain due to stress?
Would you like more information about our treatment options for muscle pain and stress? Our physiotherapists will be happy to help! Contact us by calling 085-5000333 or emailing to info@friskfysio.nl. You can also use the contact form on our website.
