Did you know that stress and anxiety can actually lead to neck pain and shoulder pain? I had a patient who was very upset that her doctors were saying that her neck pain was because of her stress. Understandably, she was frustrated that the doctor seemed to only be concerned with her anxiety.
She expressed that she felt that the doctor thought she was “making it up”.
We all know that feeling sucks.
I’ve been there too and it just made the pain worse.
What I wish the doctor would have said, was that stress and anxiety cause us to hold ourselves more rigid which overworks muscles in our neck which can influence headaches and overall pain. In this situation, stress and anxiety IS the root of the pain, however, there is absolutely something going on with the muscles as well.
If we just take medications that address the pain from tight muscles, we didn;t really get to the root of why that is happening. This is why medical professionals often recommend treatment for stress and anxiety when people feel severe pain. It is NOT because they don’t think the pain is real. It is because they want to make sure they are getting to the root of the problem rather than treating a symptom of the problem alone.
So, what are some of my favorite things to manage stress and anxiety?
Grounding Techniques: Basically this appeals to the 5 senses and has you focus on things in the present, rather than things that bring on anxiety. Here is the general system. You name:
5 things you can see
4 things you can touch
3 things you can hear
2 things you can smell
1 thing you can taste
Complete as many times as you need. Be as general or specific as you need to be.
