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How Stress And Fear Can Impact Your Pain
May 26, 2020
We’re all living in a stressful, unprecedented time. As the coronavirus impacts everything we know around us, it’s extremely common to feel stress and fear. Our favorite restaurants are closed, we need to stay inside all the time....
We’re all living in a stressful, unprecedented time. As the coronavirus impacts everything we know around us, it’s extremely common to feel stress and fear. Our favorite restaurants are closed, we need to stay inside all the time, and we can’t hug our loved ones. On top of all of that, the new stresses of working from home or dealing with less income have also arrived.
Needless to say, it can be rough. Even worse, stress and fear can cause more issues down the road if you’re dealing with chronic pain, which one in five Americans reportedly do.
That’s why the experts at Alliance Spine and Pain are here to help. We’re explaining below how stress and fear can impact your pain and what you can do to help.
CONSTANT FIGHT OR FLIGHT MODE
When you’re stressed or afraid, your body’s natural chemical reaction is to go into fight or flight mode. However, since you aren’t necessarily in need to fight or flight, your body gets confused by this and constantly stays in that mode.
That means your body is always tense as all your muscles remain poised to strike or start to run. When you have chronic pain, this is a horrible thing for recovery and management. It’s best to relax your muscles as much as you can, but fight or flight mode is the direct opposite of that.
DISCOURAGES POSITIVE MENTAL HEALTH
When dealing with pain management, working on your mental health is a vital part of the process. When you’re feeling anxious or sad, your pain can often be increased or morphed. Added stress and fear only negatively impacts your mental health, therefore tampering with your back pain.
PHYSICAL SIDE-EFFECTS
Those with high-stress levels often report experiencing damage to their heart, irritable bowel syndrome and other issues with their digestive system, and even decreased fertility. When you’re already dealing with chronic pain, these combined physical effects can only make your initial symptoms feel worse.
WHAT CAN I DO TO FIGHT AGAINST HOW STRESS AND FEAR CAN IMPACT YOUR PAIN?
To prevent the side-effects of stress and fear creating more issues with your chronic pain, here are several tips we recommend for coping:
- Speak with others: Tell your trusted loved ones how you’re feeling. Oftentimes, they’ll understand what you’re going through and give you much needed advice, love, and attention to get you feeling better.
- Go to therapy: Dealing with chronic stress can often be a sign of an undiagnosed mental health issue. Speaking with a therapist can help you understand where your stress comes from, provide tips and tricks for how to deal with it, and also give you the tools to prevent the stress from arriving in the first place.
- Practice Self-care: When stress shows up, it’s best to lean on what brings you happiness and joy. That’s where self-care best practices come in, which means indulging in activities that make you feel happy and calm. Whether it’s pulling out the yoga mat or putting on a face-mask, don’t feel guilty for taking the time to love yourself so that stress will melt away.
If you have any more questions about how stress and fear can impact your pain, Alliance Spine and Pain is here to help. Reach out to any of our back-strengthening specialists by clicking here or by giving us a call at 770-929-9033.