When our body experiences tension, it is usually the result of tight and contracted muscles that remain in that tense state for long periods of time. You might feel tenderness in certain areas, aches and pain throughout your body, or like a heavy weight is sitting on your muscles, causing you discomfort.
Although the physical feelings caused by tension can be clear within the body, the reasons behind having them in the first place are not always as easy to determine. The direct cause of tension can be caused by several factors, some of which include:
- Performing a physical job or activity that relies on repetitive movements
- Engaging in a strenuous workout
- Experiencing excessive amounts of psychological stress
When participating in activities that require physical movement, such as exercise, it’s logical to assume that muscle tension may result. However, let’s look closer at the stress factor, as stress and muscle are not always thought to connect, but they most certainly do!
How Stress Causes Tension
Think of your body as a mirror to your mind. When you experience a heavy emotion like stress, you activate a stress response in your brain that triggers a rush of adrenalin and cortisol, the body’s main stress hormone. When this occurs, your body can reflect this by sparking a physical response (or several at once).
This response will look different for everyone, but muscle tension is quick to present itself in response to stress, mainly because muscles tense up to protect your body against any harm – even if that harm is only perceived. Your deadline at work is not the same threat level as standing in front of a hungry lion, but your stress response gets triggered anyway and your body reacts accordingly.
When the body experiences reoccurring stress responses, you can become overexposed to cortisol and other related stress hormones, and when your muscles tense as a result, it can lead to long-term concerns such as chronic pain. However, in the short-term, tension in the body is not a great feeling, and it can cause major life hurdles for people who experience it. This is why recognizing and managing stress is extremely important to help reduce the likelihood of constant tension in the body.
Now that we have more of an understanding of why tension can arise, let’s look at where in the body we hold tension. This article is divided into three parts to represent the body: upper, mid, and lower. This will help to differentiate more specific areas in each part of the body and explain why we hold our tension there.
UPPER-BODY TENSION
Tension in the upper body is most commonly held in the head, jaw, neck, and shoulders.
HEAD: When you hold tension in your head, you may experience what is called a tension-type headache. The type of pain associated with this tends to be mild to moderate in severity, and many say it feels like a band of tightness that spans across the head. There are various types of tension-type headaches, including episodic, which can last from 30 minutes to a week for less than 15 days a month and chronic, which lasts hours and occurs more than 15 days a month.
Those who experience these types of headaches may also experience migraines, although what prompts them can differ. Stress is the most common trigger for tension-type headaches, and while there are various therapies that can help treat the symptoms and reduce stress, massage therapy for head and migraine pain has been shown to help tremendously.
JAW: Tension in the jaw is very common, especially if you tense or clench your jaw in times of stress or grind your teeth when you sleep. The joint within the jaw, the temporomandibular joint (TMJ), can become tight because of this tension, and it is often a result of stress, injury to the jaw, inflammation, or overexerting, and can cause pain and possibly lead to a TMJ disorder. Often, the discomfort that is felt with TMJ can be self-managed, and one great way to do so is through a TMJ-specific massage.
NECK AND SHOULDERS: Have you ever caught yourself giving your neck and shoulders a rub after a long day? If so, tension in this area is extremely common; that adage, “you carry the weight on your shoulders” is not entirely wrong for many people! There are joints and nerves in the neck that can cause neck pain, but the discomfort in this area is typically caused by muscle spasms, which can arise suddenly or overtime. Any type of musculoskeletal pain in the upper extremities has been linked to stress, and for many, this can be specifically linked to job stress.
Neck and shoulder pain can also be caused by our posture and the way we hold our bodies throughout the day when we perform various tasks – there’s even such a thing as tech neck from too much technology use! When we put this strain on our upper back, neck, and shoulders, it can create tension and can lead to various bodily symptoms associated with it. There are several ways to achieve relief from this tension, but massage for muscles in this area can be a great way to generate proper blood flow, loosen strain, and relax the tissue.
MID-BODY TENSION
Tension in the middle of the body is most commonly held in the stomach and hips.
STOMACH: When you experience stress or anxiety, have you ever noticed your stomach feels tight or what some call a “nervous stomach”? Our abdominal area has muscles that can contract and feel tension when we feel stressed out, and it can lead to feelings of discomfort, especially when your abdominal muscles tire out. Of course, any type of abdominal pain should be checked out by a healthcare practitioner, but if you find stress is the culprit, engaging in relaxation techniques can help immensely.
HIPS: Tightness in the hips is usually caused by tension in a group of muscles around the hip and near the top of the thigh called hip flexors. Those who spend a lot of time sitting in a day or who go to the gym frequently may experience this tightness. However, the hips can also be the part of the body that reacts to stress. When our body ignites a stress response, also known as the “fight or flight” response, our hips can tighten and clench as a result of our body feeling like we have to run or use the “flight” response. It has also been found in yoga practices, for example, that by stretching the hip muscles, built-up emotions and unconscious tension may arise, which helps illustrate just how much pent-up emotion can result in the hips.
LOWER-BODY TENSION
Tension in the lower body is most commonly found in the legs and feet.
LEGS: Muscle tension in the legs can be a result of overuse, such as spending a lot of time walking or frequently working out at the gym. However, a lack of movement can also cause tension because leg muscles can feel stiff after extended periods of no movement. It is important to find a middle ground to prevent overuse as well as underuse.
Similar to the other areas previously mentioned, when we experience tension caused by stress, our legs are often involved. Muscle tension in legs is fairly common. As well, other factors that come with stress, such as experiencing panic attacks or tossing and turning in bed, can cause tension and pain in your legs.
FEET: Our feet have over 100 muscles, tendons, and ligaments, so it’s no wonder we can feel tension in our feet! Similar to our legs, if you spend a lot of time in your day on your feet, or if you are an athletic person, you may feel foot tension.
As you might expect, stress plays a role as well. When a stress response is triggered, adrenaline pumps to vital organs (it’s our body’s way of protecting us), and it can leave less blood flow to your feet and ankles. This is often why one may experience discomfort in the feet after anxiety attacks. The stress hormones we brought up earlier, adrenaline and cortisol, can cause changes to our circulation system and cause our muscles to tense. One of the best ways to address this is to increase blood flow and reduce muscle tightness through massage. The therapeutic and relaxing results can work wonders.
At Massage Experts, our trained massage therapists can work with you to relieve tension throughout your body through our various services. Be sure to contact a location near you to get started.
