Stress And Back Pain

Stress and back pain are directly related. The more stress, the more back pain, and this problem also affects children. Let's briefly review 3 recent studies...

Doctors at the University of Manchester, England, researched the relationships between psychosocial stress and low back pain in children.

In this study, 1046 children who had no initial back pain were followed-up for one year.

Children who reported high stress-levels were 150% more likely to develop lower back pain than children experiencing normal levels of stress.

The children suffering from stress were also...

• 250% more likely to show behavioral problems.
• 180% more likely to have stomach pain.
• 160% more likely to suffer from headaches.
• 150% more likely to have sore throats.

The weight of the school bag was not correlated to developing low back pain. The Doctors suggest that children complaining of back pain should be evaluated for stress-related problems.

Another recent study, this one investigating 48,000 men in the Swedish Army, shows that there's a direct link between stress and back pain.

Those who had poor coping skills were more likely to have back pain.

In a similar U.S. study, 368 soldiers visiting a clinic for acute low back pain for the first time, were evaluated for job and emotional distress. Job stress was related to emotional stress, which was further directly related to frequency of visits to the clinic.

The more stress, the more visits for back pain treatment. Why is there a direct link between stress and back pain?

The reason is simple...

Your brain can act on every part of your body, and a stressed brain sends out stress hormones which tense up your muscles.

Your muscles are responsible for joint function and movement. If you clench your fists for five minutes, you will likely feel pain in and around your fingers.

Now imagine thousands of muscle fibers in dozens of muscles working on your spine and neighboring joints, tensing up too often and for too long, rarely getting enough rest in a person who is stressed.

Muscles pull on skin and joints, joints pull on nerves, and spinal nerves communicate with muscles, tissues, and organs all over your body. Muscle tension also leads to decreased flow of blood and nutrients to maintain and repair tissues.

So there's less food and less breaks for some very hard-working structures in the stressed body. Unfortunately, long term stress and back pain go hand in hand. Headaches, pain in other joints, even skin soreness are also common.

And stress causes many more problems...

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