Physical Signs Of Stress You Should Know About

We tend to consider stress as a purely mental state. The feeling of being stressed. However, some physical signs of stress really should be dealt with as soon as you can. 

Headaches

This is one of the most common ones. Stress headaches are prevalent and can be very painful. It is called a tension headache and will present itself almost like a band squeezing your head. This, in turn, can trigger other things like migraines. Unfortunately, if you are prone to tension headaches, you are more likely to get different types of headaches too. Tension headaches tend to last between 30 minutes to a week. This is entirely dependent on the levels of stress. If the source of the stress isn’t handled quickly, it can be a problem that contributes to chronic tension headaches. 

Fatigue

Being permanently exhausted is something that comes with a lack of sleep. The lack of sleep that you suffer from, due to tossing and turning all night will impact your daily life too. Concentration levels will begin to dip, and with that things like driving and working will become much more difficult. In fact, tiredness is a leading cause of car crashes and bumps. Both of which will mean you need to make a call to someone like Hadley Law Firm to help you out. 

Fatigue will also impact your mood. You are much more likely to be cranky, and take it out on people who don’t deserve it – causing yourself more stress. A vicious cycle, indeed. 

Neck Pain

When you are stressed, you tend to tense your jaw and shoulders. This manifests into painful, tight shoulders. It will be felt in the base of the head, down through the middle of the neck, and across into the shoulders. One way to tackle this is to get a massage, or a heated wheat bag rested on your shoulders. 

Hair Loss

The term ‘it’s making me lose my hair’ is synonymous with stressful situations. It is more likely if you have been suffering from stress for long periods. A single stressful issue isn’t expected to have that much impact on your hair follicles. However, life-altering events are much more likely to see those strands falling out. You body dedicates itself to surviving the event that has stressed you out and stops hair growing it in order to compensate. Once the period of stress is over, all of the hair that was halted in the middle of growing will shed at once – sometimes handfuls at a time. 

Weight Gain

Cortisol is to blame for this, rather than stress eating (although that plays a part too). Cortisol is a stress hormone that not only makes you hungrier, but it causes your body to retain calories because it thinks you are in a stressful situation – all the time. 

So, relax your jaw, roll your shoulders around and ask yourself – when was the last time you had any of these signs? And what can you do about those higher than average stress levels?