The Role of Stress on Your Joints and Muscles

Stress is something we all experience at times, whether it’s from work, family life, poor sleep, or everyday pressures. While we often think of stress as a mental or emotional issue, it also has a powerful effect on how the body functions physically.

Much of this response is controlled by the autonomic nervous system, which works automatically in the background to regulate things like heart rate, breathing, digestion, and hormone release. This system has two main branches that work in balance with each other: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system.

The sympathetic nervous system is responsible for the well-known “fight or flight” response. It prepares the body for action by increasing alertness and energy output. In contrast, the parasympathetic nervous system focuses on rest, recovery, and repair, supporting processes such as digestion, immunity, and reproduction. These two systems work like a see-saw — when one is more active, the other becomes less active.

The sympathetic system can be triggered by internal factors like fear, anxiety, hunger, or thirst, as well as external stressors such as injury, temperature changes, or ongoing physical demands. No matter where the stress comes from, the body responds in a similar way: by increasing sympathetic activity.

When the brain detects stress, it signals the release of hormones such as adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which then stimulates the adrenal glands to produce cortisol. Cortisol plays an important role in helping the body cope with short-term challenges by regulating energy, blood sugar, and inflammation.

In the short term, this stress response is helpful and even essential — it allows us to react quickly, stay focused, and handle demanding situations. However, when stress becomes constant or prolonged, this system can remain overactive. Over time, this may contribute to hormonal imbalances, fatigue, impaired recovery, and increased strain on the muscles and joints.

(Graph adapted from Aptel and Cnockaert 2002(2))

This flow chart demonstrates how stress triggers our bodies to release a variety of hormones and chemicals. Such releases can sometimes result in muscle pain, build up of fluids, strain on joints and inflammation in the body.

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There are ways to help reduce the stress response to help manage the symptoms experienced from being on guard all the time! Here are a few tips to help manage your stress levels that we have tried and tested!

Breath work

Breathing is the only automatic bodily function that we can consciously control and is an effective way to decrease the stress response. One of our favourites is box breathing; inhale for a count of 4, hold your breath for a count of 4, exhale for a count of 4 and hold your lungs empty for a count of 4. Give it a try!

Egoless exercises

When our minds switch off from daily stressors, our bodies tend to switch off too. Mindfulness exercises like yoga and Pilates are extremely effective at helping to reduce stress. Aerobic exercises like swimming and running, when there is no competitive edge, can also be effective in managing stress levels.

Sleep hygiene

Anxiety before bed increases your heart rate and the overall stress response, and can have a negative impact on sleep quality and quantity. Choosing activities that limit this such as reading, meditation and not working before bed can help you switch off. Another technique is having a ‘worry list’ ready to write down any stressors before bed or in the night if you wake up in a panic.

References

1. Sapolsky, R.M. (2004) ‘Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers’. In Sapolsky, R.M., (3rd ed) Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers. New York, USA: St Martin’s Press: pp10-18

2. Aptel, M. and Cnockaert, J.C. (2002) 'Stress and Work-Related Musculoskeletal Disorders of the Upper Extremities'. TUTB Newsletter, 19-20: 50-56.

Photos by Marcus Aurelius, Mikhail Nilov, Ketut Subiyanto and

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