The Hidden Link Between Stress and Chronic Pain: What Every Athlete and Everyday Mover Should Know
Stress isn’t just “in your head”—it’s in your body too. For people living with chronic pain, stress acts like fuel on the fire, intensifying discomfort and making symptoms harder to manage. Research shows that when your nervous system stays stuck in “fight-or-flight” mode, your body becomes hypersensitive to pain signals, even when there’s no injury present. This connection explains why pain often lingers long after the body has healed.
The good news? You can break the cycle. By learning how stress and pain interact—and using simple, evidence-based strategies to calm the nervous system—you can retrain your brain and body to turn the volume down on pain. Whether you’re an athlete, a weekend warrior, or someone struggling with daily pain, understanding this mind-body connection is a powerful step toward lasting relief.