Most of us think the word stress to mean emotional or work related stress. The fact is that there are a number of different types of stress and stressors and common ones that contribute to physical damage are pain, infection, poor diet, lack of or too much exercise, toxins, oxidative stress to name a few. In physical terms it is easier to call these stressor’s allostatic load.

The body is constantly striving to keep temperature, pH, glucose and other chemical processes in balance, this is known as homeostasis. The process that controls this is allostasis. When allostatic load (stress) becomes too much it is damaging to the body because it affects the bodies ability to maintain homeostasis.

The body’s response to a stressor is for the sympathetic nervous system to be activated. Many of you will be familiar with this as the ‘fight or flight’ response. This is normal and will be rebalanced by the para-sympathetic nervous system, often called the ‘rest and digest’ response. 

The release of a noradrenaline in the brain controls the activation of the sympathetic nervous system, making you more alert, increasing your heart rate, constricting certain blood vessels and opening others it will also trigger the adrenal glands to manufacture cortisol to act as an anti inflammatory. Cortisol is often only thought of as a stress hormone but this is not true it has other roles most notably in control of our circadian rhythm, which controls our ability to sleep well and wake refreshed.

Increased production of cortisol to fight stress and inflammation will affect the balance of cortisol and melatonin. This can affect your circadian rhythm and ability to sleep and as any parent of babies know lack of sleep is stressful only further fueling the problem. This sort of cycle is repeated throughout the bodies integrated systems from the gut to the immune system to the muscles and joints and is the reason long-term stress is bad for you.

Whilst the effects of stress on the body are complex and not entirely understood the fundamentals are basic, removing stress is good. The best course of action is to remove all stressors. There are obviously some stresses that can’t be removed such as caring for a loved one who is ill, but removing as many stressors as possible is key. Additionally adding stress relieving activities are important. Do things you enjoy, spend time with friends and family, have fun and laugh. Exercise is also a great stress reliever, as I have said previously in other articles walking is great for you and is unlikely to be excessive or cause you injury.

If you find yourself in the situation where you want help to identify and remove allostatic load (physical stress effecting your health) or where you are in pain and particularly if that is stopping you from doing the things you enjoy get some help.

Removing pain is a great thing in its own right but the knock on effects to your mood and your ability to keep active has just as much if not more benefit to your overall health.