Written by: Sofia Lahtinen, Head Instructor at the Academy of Maternal Exercise. Sofia is a physiotherapist and personal trainer by training and specialises in coaching women and psycho-physical physiotherapy. Commercial cooperation.
Tension neck and back pain are the most common musculoskeletal problems that plague working-age people. Up to 80% of adults will experience some form of back pain in their lifetime.
The symptoms are usually mild, but many tension and pain conditions can cause a wide range of symptoms, such as headaches, dizziness, congestion or difficulty or inability to support the body.
Causes of neck and back pain
There are often many factors behind neck and back pain, from work ergonomics, too little exercise or muscle tension and weakness. Too little attention is often paid to stress, which can unexpectedly be at the root of many pains.
How does stress affect neck and back pain?
Stress in the body means, at a nervous level, that the sympathetic nervous system has taken over. The body is in a kind of fight-or-flight state, even though there is no real danger anywhere.
Under stress, the body regulates its functions so that muscles tense, the heart rate increases and breathing quickens, so that we are ready to escape at a moment's notice. Similarly, digestion is largely put on pause because there is no time or resources for it.
In practice, prolonged stress means that the body is tense, constricted and breathing is shallow when the body has no safety and peace to relax.This means that shallow breathing rises up, forcing the muscles of the neck and shoulder area to do breathing work they are not designed to do. If prolonged, this causes unnecessary neck and shoulder pain and the back is equally symptomatic of this.
How to get rid of stress-related neck and back pain?
Definitely one of the most important ways to manage stress-related symptoms is to identify and actively address the stressors in your daily life. However, there are also a variety of exercises that can be used to calm the nervous system and get the parasympathetic nervous system active, i.e. the restorative functions of our body.
Different types of breathing and body care exercises work great for this. Muscles also need active, pumping movement to allow the waste products that maintain inflammation to leave the body, thus relieving stress at the body level.
Exercise is an important part of pain management. A single bout of exercise lowers blood pressure, improves insulin sensitivity, improves sleep, reduces anxiety and boosts information processing - and the best ideas often come from the jogging trail. The benefits of exercise are greater when it is done regularly.
Here are a few tips to help ease the symptoms:
- Move your body gently > increase security and body awareness.
- Invest in mobility training > improve the removal of waste products from the body (pain triggers).
- Strengthen critical areas > Insufficient muscle strength is a stress on the body - we put more strain on everyday activities.
- Learn deep diaphragmatic breathing > activate the parasympathetic nervous system and vagus nerve.
- Take a break for a day and increase your exercise > long periods of standing still are hard on the body - the body needs movement, it was made to move.
Recommendation: the Posture Power programme to relieve stress-related neck and back pain
The Posture Power programme at the Academy of Maternity Exercise has been developed to help relieve stress-related neck and back pain. The programme focuses on conditioning and strengthening the body and finding the right breathing style to restore the body and relieve pain.
The Posture Power programme includes five different exercises designed by physiotherapists. The exercises strengthen the neck, shoulder and back, relieve muscle tension, increase mobility and improve breathing.
With the code EFLL24 you get until the end of November a 10 € discount on the Posture Power programme.
