We tend to view stress as something that primarily affects our mental health. When we’re stressed, we may feel anxious, nervous or overwhelmed, but it’s not just our mental state that is taxed by this stress burden. Mental and emotional stress oftentimes has a significant physical component that can be easy to overlook, and if it’s not managed properly, injuries and discomfort can develop. In today’s blog, we take a closer look at how to prevent, manage and overcome the impact that mental stress can have on our physical body.
All The Ways Stress Impacts Us Physically
Our body is constantly making physical reactions to mental and emotional stressors, and these reactions are more than just the hair standing up on the back of our neck when we’re frightened. Some common physical reactions to stress that can serve to cause problems for our body include:
- A hunched posture position can increase strain on the cervical and lumbar spine.
- Prolonged muscle tension can serve to weaken certain muscle groups and supportive tissues. Clenching your jaw or holding tension in your pelvic floor can lead to physical discomfort.
- Teeth grinding when you’re awake or while your brain is still stressed during sleep can contribute to jaw pain.
- Shallow, tense breathing patterns will limit diaphragm movement, in turn ratcheting up stress on the pelvic floor muscles.
- Increased heart rate can leave us feeling fatigued more quickly
- Your body’s commitment to managing mental stress can leave you less able to allocate resources appropriately to other issues, which is why stress can actually increase your risk of sickness, infections and a suppressed immune response.
Combating The Physical Side Of Stress
If you’re dealing with an increase in pain, headaches, joint discomfort, fatigue or any other health issues that may be tied to an increase in mental stress, know that treatment options are closer than you think. Most times the best resource to connect with is a physical therapist. You can head to a PT clinic without a referral and undergo a quick physical assessment the same day. Your PT will ask about your symptoms and have you perform a few movements to look for the physical signs of stress on your body. Oftentimes this short assessment allows them to come up with an individualized treatment program that you can perform in-clinic or on your own to greatly reduce or even eliminate the symptoms you’re experiencing.
Depending on how mental stress is affecting you physically, some treatment recommendations may include:
- Destress – Working to reduce or eliminate the sources of stress in your life can help to curb physical symptoms, but it’s impossible to completely eliminate stress from your life.
- Physical Therapy – PT exercises can help improve your posture and joint stability to ensure physical stress is better distributed across your body, and that these areas are stronger and better able to handle it when it manifests.
- Relaxation Exercises – Deep breathing exercises, relaxation techniques or other calming pursuits like yoga can help patients manage and treat stress before it really takes a physical hold.
- Exercise – Normal exercise and daily activity pursuits have been shown to increase endorphin production, which can be helpful for your overall brain health and stress levels.
- Improved Sleep Habits – We understand that quality sleep can be hard to come by when you’re stressed, but poor sleep may actually be a main driver of your mental stress, so striving to provide an ideal sleep environment and really committing to getting better sleep can help curb the effects of stress.
Don’t let the mental stress we all experience lead to physical health issues. Instead, counteract the effects of stress by syncing up with a physical therapy team near you. In the greater Twin Cities area, we hope you’ll connect with the team at OrthoRehab Specialists by calling (612) 339-2041.
PT of Costa Rican National Soccer Team for 2007 World Cup in Victoria, CAN. Clinical Instructor for University of Minnesota Doctor of Physical Therapy Affiliations
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