Back pain is incredibly common, which is why it is so important to understand the different factors that can impact our pain.
Stress related back pain is a term that we use when our back pain symptoms worsen with increased stress levels. This doesn’t mean that stress is the root cause of the pain, but it is likely making your pain experience worse.
Why do stress and anxiety increase symptoms of back pain?
When we are stressed or anxious our body releases stress hormones called cortisol and adrenaline which can cause us to involuntarily tighten our muscles or change our regular posture. Constant tension on our muscles can make the symptoms of pain worse, mostly because our body is not used to it. If you notice that your back pain is worsening – take note of your stress levels and pay attention to your body to see if you are tensing your muscles. If you notice you are tensing your muscles, it is helpful to do a full body relaxation exercise or go for a walk to get your blood flowing, body moving, and reduce your tension and pain.
Another reason our pain can feel worse when we’re stressed is because we change our activity levels. Often when we experience stress, it is our exercise or movement routines that take the back seat. It is important to recognize this early on when you are stressed so that you do not enter a cycle of inactivity, because inactivity will lead to worse back pain symptoms.
The cycle looks like this, you are stressed so you skip your exercise, then your symptoms start to feel worse, so you continue to skip your exercise because you don’t want to hurt yourself…and so on so forth. This cycle is incredibly common, but it is a MYTH that exercise will make your symptoms worse. Typically, movement is GOOD for back pain and will improve your symptoms. Trust that your body is resilient and use movement to help you reduce your stress rather than add to it.
The last important piece in understanding stress related to pain focuses on our central nervous system. When we are living in a constant state of heightened stress or when we have been experiencing chronic pain, our nervous system adjusts and becomes “hypersensitive.” This means that our perception of pain is heightened, so we start to perceive something that typically is not painful to us as painful. Generally, movement and giving more sensory input to our nervous system and muscles can help regulate this response.
Stress and anxiety do not cause back pain; however, it is important to understand how they contribute to the difficult cycle of back pain. Those with greater perceived back pain (either because the back pain is severe or because they are hypersensitive to the pain) are more likely to over-adjust to avoid the pain, which generally leads to worsening symptoms instead of improving symptoms.
If you have concerns, our Dario Coaches are here to guide you through, but when in doubt try to keep your body moving! Next time your back pain is feeling worse, think of what you can do to support the other areas of your life that may be contributing to it and do not let yourself fall into this cycle. We believe in you!