Millions of individuals globally suffer from back pain as one of the most common health conditions. You might have heard of physical triggers, like slipping a disc or pulling a muscle, causing back pain. However, do you know that backpain can also be caused or worsened by anxiety? 

Moreover, it’s not a one-way relationship! The relationship between back pain and anxiety flows both ways. So, how come anxiety is one of the culprits for back pain? How back pain can contribute to your anxiety? 

Dive deep to understand the vicious circle of back pain and anxiety and how you can relieve back pain from anxiety. 

Defining the Relationship Between Anxiety and Back Pain

Many research studies suggest that chronic anxiety can lead to chronic back pain and vice versa. i.e., anxiety from back pain is also true. 

For example, chronic anxiety can lead to cortisol dysfunction and issues with your body’s inflammatory response. Problems with cortisol production and inflammation can further cause oxidative stress, anxiety, free radical damage, tissue degeneration, cellular injury, and ageing, all contributing to chronic back pain.

How Can Anxiety Cause Back Pain?

In a nutshell, anxiety can be linked to chronic back pain in the following ways:

Stress response

The extreme feelings of anxiousness or nervousness can activate a stress response, also called the ‘fight-or-flight response.’ This stress response can make many changes throughout your body, preparing your body to take immediate emergency action.

Among these changes is tightening the muscles to make your body more resilient to injury. Tightened muscles in your back can further cause tension, soreness, stiffness, and even restricted mobility. Moreover, sometimes, your muscles get so tightened that they cause extreme pain and spasms. 

Therefore, anxiety and accompanying stress response are major cause of back pain, muscle stiffness, tension, soreness, and spasm. 

Hyperstimulation

When stress response frequently activates in your body due to uncontrollable anxious behaviour, it can induce your body to remain in a semi-stress response readiness state. In medical terms, this state is referred to as ‘stress-response hyperstimulation.’ 

Hyperstimulation can cause changes to the active stress response, no matter whether a stress response has been activated. As a result, hyperstimulation contributes to a stressed body and tightened muscles, including back muscles. 

Therefore, the chronic back pain you suffer from might be a common symptom of hyperstimulation.

Other causes

The following are some other causes of back pain resulting from anxiety:

• Inflammation: Frequent anxious behaviour can lead to inflammation throughout your body, including your back, which further causes pain.
• Poor posture: When a person is anxious or stressed, his breathing pattern changes and shoulders might hunch up, leading to tension and strain in your upper and middle back.
• Reduced blood flow: When suffering from anxiety, your blood vessels might constrict, which reduces blood flow to the muscles in your back and, thus, causes pain.

How to Know if Back Pain is From Anxiety?

Now that backpain can have varied causes, determining whether it’s caused by anxiety can be challenging. However, the following are some signs and symptoms that might indicate your back pain is induced by extreme anxiousness:

• Frequent back pain, stiffness, tension, soreness, or spasms.
• Physical and emotional strain
• Your back pain has developed gradually over time rather than suddenly.
• Back pain might come and go depending on your anxious behaviour.
• Your back gets sharp, shooting, or stabbing pain, but you have recently done anything to cause it.
• Anxiety-induced back pain can feel like a burning sensation in your back
• Even gentle movements, like twisting or bending over, cause sudden back pain.

How Can You Relieve Anxiety-Induced Back Pain?

When it comes to anxiety-induced back pain treatment, you can do the following things to relieve your discomfort:

• Pain relievers: Your healthcare provider can prescribe you some over-the-counter pain relievers to help reduce back pain while reducing inflammation caused by anxiety. 
• Heat therapy: Another effective way to alleviate back pain caused by anxiousness is by applying heat pads to the affected area. Heat will aid in relaxing your back muscles and reduce pain.
• Stretching: Think of doing stretches under the professional’s guidance that target your lower back, like cat-cow or knee-to-chest stretches, to relieve tension in your lower back muscles.
• Massage: Regularly massaging your back can help relieve muscle tension, stiffness, and soreness and alleviate pain. You can see an expert massage therapist or opt for self-massage techniques.

Tips to relieve anxiety

Consider trying the following remedies to reduce your anxiety, which will further help relieve back pain:

• Light to modern workout: Doing light to moderate exercises for at least half an hour a day can help prevent the degeneration of your muscles and joints while relaxing your mind. 
• Have a nutritious diet: Consuming a diet that includes a lot of fresh fruits and green leafy vegetables can reduce inflammation and enhance your mood.
• Practice relaxation techniques: Practice techniques like meditation, deep breathing, and progressive muscle relaxation to break free of negative thoughts, reduce anxiety, and promote calmness.
• Interact with others: Many anxious people avoid social events. However, pushing yourself to seek social support can help relieve your stress. Take some time out for your family and friends, or you can join social groups. 
• Get enough sleep: Getting enough sleep is crucial to relax your mind, calm your muscles, elevate your mood, and reduce stress and anxiety.

Summing up!

Anxiety and back pain are interconnected medical conditions that can impair your regular life. However, professional diagnosis and treatment, along with remedial measures for both anxiety and stress-induced back pain, can help relieve your discomfort.

So, what are you waiting for? Contact Medanta for a medical consultation related to your back pain and find out whether anxiety is the main culprit and how to deal with it!