Understanding the Connection Between Your Stress Response and Pain

Stress is an unavoidable fact of life. Everyone goes through it, whether it’s finals season, working under a deadline, or planning a wedding or a move. Stress is your body’s way of putting you in “survival mode” to get you through high pressure moments. While stress is an important survival mechanism, problems start to crop up when we’re under constant, or chronic, stress. The hormones we produce when stressed are not meant to circulate in our bodies for long periods of time. When they do, there can be adverse effects. Below, we’re going into detail about stress and stress response, as well as the impact it has on your body, and how to effectively reduce your stress levels. 

In the simplest terms, stress response is your body reacting to perceived threats. This could be a physical or psychological threat. Your body doesn’t know how to distinguish between either. This physiological response starts in your brain. When your amygdala registers a threat, it sends a distress signal to your hypothalamus – the command centre of your nervous system. 

The hypothalamus triggers the production and release of adrenaline into your bloodstream. The effects of adrenaline are immediate but short-lived. Once it subsides, the hypothalamus will have triggered the production and release of cortisol, which will sustain until the threat has passed. 

Causes 

There are two categories of threats or stressors that can trigger your stress response: physical or psychological. Physical threats are things like getting into or witnessing an accident, witnessing a fire, or getting hurt. The stress from physical threats tends to be acute and not long-lasting. Although some people may develop PTSD from physical stressors. 

Psychological stressors, on the other hand, are more likely to cause chronic stress. These are things like planning a wedding or big move, having a demanding job or losing your job, being diagnosed with cancer, or the sudden loss of a loved one. Stress will only resolve when the perceived threat has passed. As many psychological stressors are protracted events in our lives, they aren’t as likely to resolve quickly. 

Symptoms 

Stress has a big impact on your body. The release of adrenaline and cortisol into your bloodstream will affect many of your bodily functions. These effects include: 

• Rise in blood pressure and heart rate 
• Increase respiration 
• Slowing of digestion 
• Decreased immune system activity 
• Tensing of muscles 
• Reduced sleepiness caused by heightened state of alertness 

During times of stress, your body is going to devote most of its resources to your breathing, blood flow, alertness, and preparing your muscles for sudden use. 

Our stress response evolved as a coping mechanism to help get us away from harm. It’s designed to deal with immediate threats, but most of the stressors we’re faced with today are not short-lived and can instead persist for weeks or months. As stress alters the normal functioning of our circulatory, respiratory, digestive, and immune systems, you can imagine that chronic stress can lead to health complications. Common complications from chronic stress include: 

• Heart disease 
• High blood pressure 
• Chronic colds and infections 
• Sleep disturbances 
• Indigestions and upset stomach 
• Diarrhea 
• Depression and anxiety 
• Erectile dysfunction and loss of libido 

It’s also worth mentioning that chronic stress can influence your behaviour and impair your judgment. Some stress-related behaviours include being irritable or short tempered, prone to crying easily, binge eating or not eating enough, forgetfulness, social withdrawal, and difficulty maintaining relationships. 

There is a clear link between stress and pain. That’s because your body is not meant to function in a constant state of fight-or-flight. It’s hard on your body and ultimately makes you less resilient to pain and injury. The overproduction of cortisol causes inflammation. Pair that with tense muscles and fatigue and you have the perfect recipe for stress-induced pain. 

For those with medical conditions or injuries that cause chronic pain, stress can make it worse. Pain by itself is considered a stressor, especially if you have a reasonable expectation of experiencing pain on a regular basis. It can create a cycle where you are stressed because you are in pain, and you’re in pain because you are stressed. 

Acupuncture is a branch of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) that uses very thin needles inserted into your skin to stimulate and regulate the flow of your vital energy or Qi (pronounced “chee”). Imbalance and stagnation of Qi manifest in the physical symptoms of illness, disease, and other physical ailments. These dysregulations of energy can be treated through applied stimulation of acupoints along natural pathways in your body called meridians. 

Two things that acupuncture is very good for are reducing inflammation and lowering cortisol levels in your bloodstream. That makes the treatment uniquely well suited to reducing stress and the complications that come with it. Especially for those who have been enduring chronic and high stress for a long time, it can be difficult to lower your stress levels on your own. Depending on the cause of your stress, it may be something that isn’t going to resolve any time soon. Stress can be a vicious cycle, and it’s important to seek help in managing it. 

There is unfortunately no cure for stress, but it is something we can manage and become more resilient to. Acupuncture can give you a soft “reset” on your stress levels that will allow you to make meaningful lifestyle and habit changes that will help keep your stress levels from becoming unmanageable. Think of it as giving yourself the tools to tackle life’s challenges while keeping your sanity and sense of wellness intact. The following are some things that will make you more resilient: 

• Practice mindfulness and meditation 
• Eat a balanced diet  
• Exercise regularly (but don’t overdo it) 
• Ensure you get enough sleep 
• Make sure you take breaks or rest periods throughout your day 
• Try breathing exercises 
• Avoid working through your lunch breaks every day 
• Be mindful and acknowledge the signs that you are more stressed than usual 
• Take time each day to organize your schedule and tasks and manage your priorities 
• Ask for help and lean on your support network when you’ve got too much on your plate 

It seems like the world gets more stressful every day, but you don’t have to be conquered by it. Schedule an appointment today to start regaining your inner calm and peace.