Experiencing tension in the neck and shoulders from anxiety and stress is pretty common and it can make you uncomfortable while you’re trying to sleep. The neck muscles are already working hard to keep your head supported and dealing with stress and anxiety can put even more tension on the muscles which can lead to pain.
If you leave neck pain caused by stress or anxiety for too long, it can lead to more serious chronic problems that are difficult to fix. This post covers some of the best techniques that you can start implementing today to relieve neck pain and be able to sleep more comfortably again.
Reasons Why Anxiety & Stress Causes Neck Pain
It’s common for people to have emotional reasons for neck pain. Anxiety or stress that has been caused by emotional trauma has an impact on some of the main nerves and muscles that are in your neck, spine, and shoulders.
Another one of the biggest reasons for neck pain is due to being stressed to the point where it makes your body physically tense. A lot of the time, people don’t realize how much their body language changes when they’re under a lot of stress.
Being anxious can lead to your shoulders rounding and being pushed upwards which puts stress on your neck muscles and results in pain. In addition to this, undergoing stress or anxiety at a lower severity level but for longer periods can also cause more gradual neck pain.
So, if you’ve noticed that tension in your neck is often related to times of high-stress or anxiety, you’ll be glad to hear that there are some remedies you can start putting into action.
5 Ways To Relieve Stress In Your Neck
Stretching
Regularly stretching out the muscles in your back, shoulders, arms, and neck can do wonders for relieving tension. By stretching out the muscles surrounding your neck gently, you’re able to feel looser.
Stretching is superb for people suffering from neck pain caused by high levels of stress where their bodies become physically tense a lot of the time. You can spend a matter of minutes once or multiple times a day stretching your muscles to relieve pain and prevent it from troubling you again.
Getting A Massage
Similarly to stretching, getting a massage can be an excellent way to reduce physical tension in your neck. Massages may be a better option for people who find there are specific parts of their neck that are painful and tight.
Getting someone to massage these areas can alleviate pain and reduce muscle tension. This is because the person can target the specific areas that are causing you the most pain. Getting massages regularly is the best way to get rid of neck pain while also being able to prevent it.
Regular Exercise
Exercising regularly has a wealth of health benefits with one of them being to minimize any pain that you may be experiencing in your neck. One of the biggest pros of exercising is that it’s a superb stress and anxiety reliever.
People who suffer from stress and anxiety conditions are often recommended by professionals to exercise. It gets the blood pumping and allows you to focus your mind on a single intense task that can be cathartic.
Furthermore, keeping your body more active is essential for reducing neck pain. If you have a job that requires you to sit at a desk all day long, your neck muscles are more likely to get tighter. Stress-related neck muscle pain can be made worse by a sedentary lifestyle. Therefore, we recommend that you exercise multiple times a week to reduce stress and help to prevent stagnant muscles from getting too tight.
Practice Yoga
Yoga is another fantastic way to keep your body more active. You could join a yoga class as being in a group where people are counting on you to come makes you more accountable and more likely to practice yoga regularly.
However, you could also choose to practice yoga at home. It can be an incredibly beneficial activity that has positive effects on the body and mind. People usually notice that their mental state is clearer and their muscles feel more relaxed after doing yoga.
Avoid Stimulants At Night
If you commonly drink coffee or smoke cigarettes throughout the day and into the evening, you may be giving your body too many stimulants to deal with. These stimulants can make it more difficult for you to fall asleep at night as they cause stress to your musculoskeletal and nervous system which can have a negative impact on the muscles in your neck.
An easy way to minimize this stress is to set yourself a cut-off time for stimulants, like cigarettes or caffeine. That way, you provide your body with enough time to deal with the stimulants so that you can properly relax and sleep better at night.
Conclusion
This article hasn’t been written by a medical professional and you should get help from a doctor or healthcare professional if you’re experiencing neck pain. The tips mentioned throughout this post can be used as simple ways that you can try to reduce and prevent neck pain that has been caused by anxiety or stress.
Hopefully, you can begin utilizing our tips to start avoiding sore shoulders and neck from stress and anxiety.
