pain and stress
Stress increases pain and pain increases stress.
Emotional and physical pain share some of the same neural pathways and areas in the brain.
Pain can initiate or increase stress. It recruits the stress response to arouse and motivate the body in response to injury by activating their shared neural pathways.
Similarly stress amplifies the experience of physical pain by firing up their shared neural pathways and adding to the pain signal. Also stress alone can initiate the experience of physical pain.
Memories of an injury or traumatic incident can perpetuate stress. The body can stay tensed in a guarding reaction long after an incident has passed. Toxic metabolic byproducts of their constant activity irritate nerves causing pain.
And stress can damage the body. Permanently tense muscles can pull the body out of alignment causing distortions in gait and posture which lead to more damage and more pain.
The stress pages outline the damage that stress does and simple solutions. The relaxation exercises minimise pain by deactivating emotional stress.
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copyright (C) John Brasted 2008
updated 06/11/11
