How Does Stress Affect Your Musculoskeletal System?
Stress is something we all experience on a daily basis and is impossible to completely avoid. Whether it’s an approaching deadline at work, juggling a hectic schedule, or experiencing pain from an injury, stress levels ebb and flow constantly. Have you noticed that when your stress levels are elevated, you might experience more physical ailments like headaches, muscle tension, or neck soreness? Those are all symptoms that answer the question, “How does stress affect your musculoskeletal system?”
Today, we’re discussing the connection between stress and muscle health, the long-term impact chronic stress can have on your body, and ways to manage stress levels to keep them in check. If you’ve been asking, “how does stress affect your musculoskeletal system?” then keep reading and use this guide to help mitigate the negative effects of stress on your daily life.
After this article, you can also check out our article on how stress affects your health long-term for more information.
How Does Stress Affect Your Musculoskeletal System When Unregulated?
We can’t totally avoid stress. It happens even in the smallest of ways each and every day. What’s important is being aware of its relationship with muscle health and other physical wellness factors.
So, how does stress affect your musculoskeletal system?
One of the ways stress impacts your musculoskeletal system is with muscle tension. In fact, it’s one of the most common causes of muscle tension in your body. When you’re stressed, your body subconsciously tenses up, which can lead to stiffness, soreness, and other types of pain or discomfort. It’s especially prevalent in the upper back, shoulder, and neck areas.
Left unchecked, prolonged stress can also lead to mobility issues because of your muscles becoming fatigued and strained. Over time, this can make simple movements like turning your head or bending over feel painful and challenging. The reduced blood flow to tight muscles can make the soreness worse since they aren’t getting the oxygen and nutrients needed to recover and function properly.
Stress and its impact on your musculoskeletal system create a self-feeding negative cycle where prolonged elevated stress levels make the pain worse while the worsening pain causes your stress levels to continue rising.
Additional Info: Are you experiencing acute stress, or is it chronic? Take a look at our guide to acute vs chronic stress to learn the differences and how to manage each for a better quality of life.
Long-Term Impacts of Chronic Stress on Your Musculoskeletal System
When you’re looking at chronic stress treatment options and asking “how does stress affect your musculoskeletal system?” you need to become familiar with its impact on your overall well-being.
There are many stress related health problems that can manifest or be made worse due to chronic stress elevation. One of them is fibromyalgia, whose symptoms include widespread musculoskeletal pain, soreness, and fatigue. Another is myofascial pain syndrome, where trigger points in your muscles because of unchecked stress can cause pain and discomfort.
One of the long-term impacts of chronic stress on your musculoskeletal system that you might not have associated with it before is temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorder. This is a condition that affects your jaw muscles and joints. Most often worsening at night while you sleep, TMJ is when you’re grinding your teeth or clenching your jaw bone. Symptoms of this include jaw pain, difficulty eating, and even challenges speaking because of residual discomfort.
Managing Stress Levels for Better Muscle Health
Now that you have a better understanding of the answer to, “How does stress affect your musculoskeletal system?” let’s discuss managing these symptoms to alleviate pain now and in the future. Taking proactive steps for stress and anxiety relief can play a significant role in improving your overall quality of life and reducing the effects of muscle tension caused by stress.
A few ways to manage stress symptoms that are affecting your musculoskeletal system and resulting in pain include:
- Relaxing to reduce muscle tension
- Getting a massage for muscle health
- Stretching and exercising regularly
- Practicing mindfulness meditation for stress relief
- Ensuring you get enough restful sleep
1. Relaxing to Reduce Muscle Tension
Learning how to relax and unwind can help you manage work stress, relationship stress, and many other sources of mental complications. It’s an important and effective part of reducing muscle tension, lowering stress levels, and helping with how the body heals itself inside and out. Without proper relaxation, stress will keep your body tensed up, resulting in a negative impact to your musculoskeletal system as well as potentially exacerbating other conditions.
Exercises for relaxation can include deep breathing exercises, journaling, listening to music, or any calming activity you enjoy. For those looking for tools to help with relaxation, zero gravity chairs are the best option. This is why so many have turned to using a zero gravity chair for neck pain, back pain, and other stress-associated ailments affecting the musculoskeletal system.
The design of zero gravity chairs elevates your legs above the heart level and distributes weight evenly along your body. Called the zero gravity position, it improves blood circulation, deepens relaxation, and helps lower stress levels. Additional features like vibration massage chair programs and air pressure massage make your experience even better. You can also get heated zero gravity chairs to relax and recharge further while these tools take care of your mind and body.
2. Getting a Massage for Muscle Health
Another of the most effective management methods when discussing “how does stress affect your musculoskeletal system” is getting a massage. Like discussed briefly about using zero gravity chairs with massage programs to deepen relaxation, massage helps reduce muscle tension and ease your body. Massage can be focused on areas where you hold the most stress like your back, shoulders, or neck.
Instead of expensive traditional massage therapy appointments that may not be available when you need them most, zero gravity chairs are once again a useful tool here. Beyond the functionality of providing massage to your body, the most useful part of owning a zero gravity chair is that you can use it anytime you need. When you’re feeling particularly stressed, it’s right at home, ready for you. Daily use of your zero gravity recliner not only helps alleviate stress and muscle tension now, but can help prevent the negative impacts of chronic stress over time.
3. Stretching and Exercising Regularly
Being an active individual will help you feel better inside and out. This is why you should integrate stretching and exercising into your daily routine as much as possible. Ideally, aim for roughly 30 minutes of physical exercise at least 5 days a week. Stretching releases tightness in your muscles, improves flexibility, and results in better blood flow. Exercises help release endorphins in your body that serve as mood elevators and lower stress levels now and in the long run.
Make sure when you’re participating in physical activity that you respect any physical limitations you’re experiencing. Overdoing it can lead to injuries that feed into the negative cycle of stress and musculoskeletal system ailments.
4. Practicing Meditation for Stress Relief
Meditating is another method for managing stress that can have a positive impact on your musculoskeletal system health. Meditation, especially mindfulness meditation techniques, are meant to calm your mind, bring you into the present, and improve your overall mental wellness. It lowers stress levels which results in naturally lower cortisol production. This eases up on muscle tension and promotes better musculoskeletal system wellness.
5. Getting Better Sleep to Alleviate Muscle Tension and Stress
Too many of us aren’t getting enough sleep to support our minds and bodies. Getting enough quality sleep each night helps you manage stress and maintain muscle health on a daily basis. While you’re sleeping, your body heals itself faster. This is because it’s able to focus on what needs repairing instead of handling all the stimuli coming at you throughout the day.
Sleep deprivation can make stress levels worse and lead to increased muscle tension and pain throughout your musculoskeletal system. Get better sleep by implementing a regular sleep schedule, creating a relaxing bedtime routine, and setting your sleep environment up to help you fall asleep faster and stay asleep through the night.
Start Managing Stress Better
How does stress affect your musculoskeletal system? As you’ve learned, it can lead to pain and discomfort caused by muscle tension, fatigue, or the worsening of chronic conditions like fibromyalgia or TMJ. You can’t avoid stress altogether, but you can take the right steps to manage it now and in the future.
Find ways to integrate physical activity into your routine as well as using the right tools to relax like having a zero gravity chair at home. With a few simple lifestyle adjustments, you can get back to living your life to the fullest and be pain-free as much as possible.
Disclaimer: This content is not medical advice. Please consult with your healthcare professional when considering implementing changes to your health or workout routines to ensure it’s compatible with your needs.
