Ever wonder why a seemingly minor injury to your back can cause so much pain?
Your brain keeps eyes on all of the systems in your body, similar to the dashboard of a car. These systems have sensors that read you and your environment, including temperature, stress, joint movement, stretch, and blood flow. An injury to your low back can also trip your sensors and put you into fight or flight mode. Sometimes the nervous system’s sensitivity is so high that normal motion is painful even though it’s not causing harm.
The stress of any kind will cause your nervous system to be more sensitive. It could be work stress, money worries, family stress, or anxiety. Stress can make it that it doesn’t take nearly as much to trigger pain with your movements and daily activities. Learning how your alarm system works can help decrease your body’s sensitivity to movement and allow you to do more with less pain.
At GHC-SCW, we have PTs and OTs ready to help you learn how your alarm system works. Whether through minimizing outside stress/triggers or learning physical and energetic modalities to reduce stress and its physical symptoms, we are here to help you along your journey of relieving lower back pain.
To learn more about how stress impacts your body and ways to desensitize your alarm system to help your physical pain consider seeing a GHC provider in the PT/OT Department.
