The Effect Stress Has on Chronic Pain
Life can present many stressful situations that can have an effect on our mental and physical wellness. Consider the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people found themselves coping with loss of jobs, loss of family and friends, and rethinking how to go about their daily lives. An enormous amount of stress was being felt by many. If you are someone living with chronic pain, you may wonder if the stress you are experiencing is having an affect on your pain. The answer is that it could, and it is helpful to understand the relationship between stress and pain.
What is Stress?
Any type of change that causes physical, emotional, or psychological strain is the definition of stress. Some common sources of stress include work, finances, health, and relationships. While everyone experiences stress from time to time, some may actually experience physical pain from it.
Types of stress you may experience include:
- Acute stress – short-lived and most often occurs in our day-to-day life
- Chronic stress – constant and never goes away
- Episodic acute stress – acute stress experienced with some regularity or frequency
The brain plays a direct role in stress and pain processes. When your brain experiences a high level of stress, your body reacts to it. For those living with chronic pain, stress can heighten existing levels of pain, and depending upon the type of stress, the pain may last longer.
What is Chronic Pain?
Chronic pain is pain that lasts for weeks to years and may be caused by inflammation or dysfunctional nerves. Chronic pain affects 20% to 30% of adults and can impact their quality of life. The major types of pain include:
Nociceptive pain – tissue injury (back pain)
Inflammatory pain – body’s immune system (rheumatoid arthritis)
Neuropathic pain - nerve pain (neuropathy)
Functional pain - no specific origin (fibromyalgia)
Chronic back pain can be a source of stress, causing an increased risk for depression, weight gain, and substance use. The chronic pain leads to wear and tear in the body and brain from over-activity or inactivity of systems that normally would adapt to cope with the challenge. When stress and pain intersect, it creates a circle of maladaptive responses to environmental challenges leading to compromised health.
How Pain and Stress Overlap
Pain and stress are different yet they present with emotional and physical overlaps. Both require the body and brain to adapt to change. If either of the two processes becomes chronic, it can lead to long-term inadequate changes in physiology and behavior.
One example is chronic pain that can make it difficult for you to work at your job, be involved with the care of your family, or even get a good night’s sleep. If you hurt, then you are stressed out about it. You just want to feel better.
All that said, can stress make your pain feel worse? There is a growing consensus among pain management specialists that it can. Stress is known to trigger the immune system and increase inflammation in the body, which can provoke chronic pain. Individuals with chronic pain know that their pain can be heightened when they are experiencing stress. This is quite normal and common. The bottom line is, when we develop acute or chronic pain due to an injury or illness, our stress negatively impacts our pain.
At Innovative Pain & Spine Specialists in Lincoln and Omaha, Nebraska, we take a multidisciplinary approach when treating patients that incorporates other modalities in the treatment plan, including mental health. There is no “one-size-fits-all” plan for treating pain and managing stress levels. That’s why we work closely with our patients and other providers to find the right care that meets each individual’s needs.