Discovering the Relationship Between Stress and Neck Pain, Back Pain, and Sciatica

Stress is associated with a myriad of symptoms and conditions to include neck pain, back pain, and sciatica. Stress is also responsible for many other disorders of the mind and the body. Hans Bruno Hugo Seyle (1907-1982) is credited by many with being the first to recognize and document the existence and impact of biological stressors. Professor Seyle is often acknowledged as being responsible for much of our current understanding of stress and how it impacts the body.

Furthermore, stress researcher and author demonstrated that stress can be negative, as in what is referred to as distress, or positive, as in what is called eustress; and, that in either case there is a definite and profound effect on the body. Many conditions exhibited by the body are the result of stress, positive or negative. In fact, we now more fully understand the causal relationship between stress and ulcers, stress and headaches, and stress and many other psychosomatic disorders. Neck pain, back pain and sciatica are generally attributed to such things as trauma, disease, illness, and aging when, in fact, in a large number of instances, stress may be and often is the underlying cause.

Neck pain, or cervicalgia, is a fairly common complaint, one affecting two-thirds of the population at some point in their lives. Significantly, neck pain may be caused by a myriad of conditions and/or factors, not unlike the other two expressions of pain in what I refer to as the "back pain complex." Back pain, also known as dorsalgia, generally has its origins in a specific region of the spine. Back pain in the cervical curvature is, of course, neck pain. Pain predominantly felt in the thoracic curvature or region of the spine may be expressed as chest pain and/or upper back pain. And, what we often refer to as a "pain the back," is generally lower or simply low back pain, generally in the lumbar region but may also be felt in the buttocks and legs. Sciatica on the other hand, at times referred to as a type of radiculopathy (at or near the nerve route), may originate at any number of loci but generally at L4 and L-5 or at S1 through S-3. However, sciatic nerve pain may also present itself at any point along the nerve route. Sciatica is, as has been noted in previous articles, a symptom and not an ultimate diagnosis and may run from the lower back down across the buttocks and into the feet and toes.

One thing constant in all three of the above mentioned pain representations is that stress may cause or contribute significantly to the onset and level of any of these "back pain complex" expressions. Neck pain, back pain and sciatica, usually originate in the muscles and fascia, tendons and ligaments, or bones and joints. Of course it may be expressed in several at once, depending on the condition and duration of involvement. In any case, stress may cause and/or exacerbate the pain in any of the three pain expressions mentioned above.

In order to properly understand and treat neck pain, back pain and/or sciatica we must recognize the mind-body link. Stress, being a responsible for any number of possible pain expressions, as well as a number of other psychosomatic disorders, should never be overlooked or its impact underestimated. The link between stress and neck pain, back pain, and sciatica is now a given, the connection undeniable. Yet for years, this link was misunderstood and misdiagnosed because of our limited understanding of psychosomatic disorders and their impact on the body. Seyle's work was instrumental in providing a new, sharper image and understanding of the impact stress has on the body. Unfortunately, even today we see many cases of denial, as it applies to psychosomatic complaints and their diagnoses, due to the stigma attached to anything related to the mind, or psyche. The saying, "It's all in your head" may be true but it still carries with it negative connotations and a negative stereotype.

We often hear expressions like, "Mary is a pain in the neck" or "Jack's a real pain in the back side." Of course, instead of "back side," many use other, more descriptive words or phrases. These are simply expressions with origins in the recognized link between the mind, as in stress, and the body, as in pain. While we often trivialize such expressions, the underlying link cannot, nor should not, be trivialized or denied. Unfortunately, denial is one of the biggest impediments, the highest hurdle any medical practitioner has to overcome because of the immediate defense mechanism slammed into place when someone hears the term psychosomatic.

Unfortunately, the saying "it's all in your head" may be true but until we better understand and accept the link between the two, we are quite often doomed to a kind of "medical test limbo," where everything is tried and nothing works, nothing provides the answers we are seeking. The reason for this being, we have failed to understand the profound impact stress has on the body, in this case resulting in neck pain, back pain, and/or sciatica...or worse.

If neck pain, back pain, and sciatica seem to be present only during periods of high stress, you may consider it a distinct possibility that stress is indeed a factor. How do you know? Ultimately, you don't! However, short of a visit to your family doctor, it may be advisable to begin a program of stretching and exercise.

The exercise program will do two things right away:

One, it will "burn off" some of that stress, replacing the harmful hormones dumped into your system during periods of peak stress and replacing them with natural opiates, known as endorphins. There are also other hormones produced that enter the blood stream during exercise but for the purposes of this article, let's just say they provide an amazing and totally natural high.

Two, it will take you to a place you may have not been in a while, and this place is a journey, not a destination. The journey is known as a healthy lifestyle.

A funny thing happens to people who begin to exercise, they begin to feel better, and then they begin to take care of themselves. This feeds back upon itself, a feedback loop, constantly fueling a healthier and happier state until neck pain, back pain, and sciatica are in the past. Should you ever use heat at any point? NO! I cannot stress this enough! Heat is the absolute wrong thing to apply to a painful neck or back. Take it from someone who has had fifteen major surgeries, fourteen on the spine, and did his doctoral research on the spine and sacroiliac joint. Never, and I mean never, use heat! If you have discomfort, associated with possible inflammation and/or swelling, ice is the only remedy. Ice beats out everything, including anti-inflammatory medications such as ibuprofen and NSAIDS.

If it is stress, while it may seem counter-intuitive, ice works wonders in a matter of as little as twenty minutes, a much shorter amount of time than it takes for the average oral medication to kick in. I use an ice-compression brace, just slip in the packet and kick back on the recliner for fifteen or twenty minutes and I'm good to go. A plastic baggie or even a grocery store bag will do in a pinch, just fill it up, wrap it in a thin, cloth towel, bang on it a few times so the ice breaks and there's greater surface area, and you have an ice pack made for the back. Once again, along with an exercise and stretching program, ice is a neck pain, back pain and sciatica sufferer's best friend for beating stress and creating a pain-free lifestyle for yourself.