Stress & Pain: The Unseen Link you Might be Overlooking
Written by Jessica Cook, Naturopath
Stress has become ubiquitous in our modern society, in fact, in Australia almost half of people aged 34-44 report feeling chronically stressed (1). Unfortunately, chronic stress has a very negative impact on our health in various ways. One such way is by increasing pain.
How Does Stress Impact Pain?
● Activating the fight or flight response: when our fight or flight response is activated we experience muscle tension and spasms, especially in the neck and back. This can aggravate existing pain or lead to the development of new pain syndromes.
● Increased cortisol levels: chronic stress leads to an increased secretion of cortisol (one of our main stress hormones). Elevated levels of cortisol can increase inflammation within the body, which intensifies feelings of pain.
● Increased pain sensitivity: our body has its own in-build pain relief system that involves endogenous opioids (like endorphins). When we are chronically stressed, this can impair the function of our in-build pain relief system making us more sensitive to pain.
● Insomnia increases pain: we all know that stress disrupts our sleep. Poor sleep quality leads to increased pain perception (hyperalgesia), increased inflammation, and an emotional amplification of pain
Naturopathic Tips for Managing Stress
As we have mentioned, stress is ubiquitous in our society, so it is pretty difficult to avoid. However, there is a lot we can do to manage stress and promote feelings of relaxation. Here are some ideas:
● Avoid fasting for prolonged periods: fasting can increase our cortisol levels and disrupt our blood sugar, increasing feelings of anxiety.
● Avoid excessive caffeine: caffeine doesn't actually give us 'energy', it gives us 'stress'. This is because caffeine works by increasing our stress hormones to make us feel awake and alert, so excessive amounts of caffeine can make our feelings of stress much worse.
● Practice some kind of relaxing activity at least once a day: this can include things such as yin yoga, meditation, deep breathing, mindful eating, laughter, spending time with friends, going outside, Epsom salt baths, etc.
● Consider some nutritional supplements to support you: specifically magnesium, b-vitamins, and vitamin C are indicated in those who are chronically stressed. That is because we tend to burn through these vitamins at a faster rate when we're stressed. And magnesium for example, helps our muscles relax, vitamin C supports our adrenal glands (the gland that secretes our stress hormones), etc. Talk to your practitioner about some good quality supplements to take when you are enduring a stressful period.
● Practice Grounding: grounding is the action of putting your bare feet/body on the earth. This is important because there is an electromagnetic exchange that happens when we do this. We are usually wearing shoes with rubber soles or spending excessive amounts of time indoors. There is some interesting research showing the benefits of grounding on reducing stress, anxiety, and pain levels by reducing cortisol levels (2).
● Consider herbal medicine to alleviate stress: Naturopaths have access to some wonderful herbs that can promote relaxation and reduce overall stress, herbs such as Ashwaghanda, Lavender, Chamomile, Zizyphus, etc are all wonderful for promoting relaxation. A naturopath can blend you up a personalised herbal tincture that is high strength and tailor made just for you.
Naturopathic Tips for Managing Pain
Pain is complex and it always depends on the individual and what is causing their pain, but there are some generalised tips to help with pain management from a naturopathic perspective:
● Avoid inflammatory foods: this mostly includes foods such as heavily processed foods.
● Increase intake of anti-inflammatory foods: this includes foods such as fatty fish, turmeric, ginger, fruits and vegetables.
● Release tension with a massage: massage is a wonderful way to decrease pain and muscle tension. Consider booking an appointment with the lovely massage therapists that work at Remedial Movement here.
● Improve the quality of your sleep: ensure you are practicing 'sleep hygiene' such as avoiding screens before bed, only using your bed for sleep, avoiding caffeine after midday, etc.
● Consider pain relieving herbs: naturopaths also have access to some excellent pain relieving herbs such as Corydalis, California Poppy, Turmeric, Devil's Claw, Ginger, etc.
References
1.Botha, F. (2021). A third of Australians under chronic time stress. Retrieved from https://shorturl.at/iHPY6
2.Ghaly, M & Teplitz, D. (2004). The biologic effects of grounding the human body during sleep as measured by cortisol levels and subjective reporting of sleep, pain, and stress.