What symptoms come to your mind when you hear the word anxiety? Maybe you think of a racing heart, sweaty palms and overthinking, but did you know that anxiety can have a deeper impact on your body and show up in the form of persistent, nagging back pain? Yes, you heard it right. There is a strong connection between our anxiety and our bodies. In this article, we’ll explore the link between anxiety and back pain while also looking at a few ways to get relief from it
Understanding Back Pain and Anxiety
As you might know, anxiety is primarily a mental health condition characterised by persistent fear and worry, typically disproportionate to the situation, but it impacts our bodies as well. While the obvious physical signs of anxiety include shortness of breath and sweating, anxiety can cause subtle physical symptoms as well, including stomach aches, headaches and back pain.
When you are anxious, your body goes into a fight-or-flight response to stress. Thus, your muscles are tense and are on high alert to respond to any upcoming situation or threat. While this is quite natural for some time, an extended time in the fight-or-flight response causes fatigue. Imagine your muscles always being tight and not getting enough rest. Over time, this fatigue leads to muscle tension and pain.
How to deal with back pain from anxiety?
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Start with gentle exercises
The first step you can consider taking to relieve your back pain is to get some exercise. This doesn’t mean lifting weights or hitting the gym, but starting with something gentle, like taking a walk or stretching your back every few hours. You can even consider doing some yoga. The idea is to break the sedentary lifestyle. Additionally, exercise also releases endorphins (the body’s natural painkillers) that can help reduce stress.
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Use grounding and breathing techniques
Anxiety causes shortness of breath, reducing the airflow to your body, which can worsen muscle tension and pain over time. Thus, deep breathing techniques such as box breathing or belly breathing can help. Deeper breaths increase oxygen and promote relaxation by regulating the heart rate. Additionally, grounding techniques such as naming things in your environment, smelling something good or visualizing a happy memory can help reduce anxiety by bringing your attention to the present moment.
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Mindfulness and progressive muscle relaxation
Mindfulness involves observing your thoughts and body sensations without judgment. It can be an incredibly powerful technique to manage anxious thoughts and reduce their power. Progressive muscle relaxation involves consciously tensing and then releasing each muscle group in your body while deep breathing and keeping. Regular practice of mindfulness and PMR can reduce both pain and anxiety.
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Use a heat press and massage
Using a hot-water compress for 10-15 minutes every few hours can relax your back muscles and reduce pain. Additionally, receiving a massage can help release muscle tightness or knots in the back, thereby increasing blood flow. The increased blood flow will reduce pain over time.
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Get intentional with self-care
If your back pain is caused by anxiety, chances are that exercise alone may not be enough, because anxiety frequently requires lifestyle changes. This could include consciously scheduling time for your hobbies, taking regular breaks, eating healthy meals at the appropriate times, and even getting a full night’s sleep. So, consciously start keeping time for your rest. Getting a good rest will enhance your productivity in the long run.
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Challenge negative thoughts
Anxiety is often sustained by negative or unhelpful thoughts, mostly starting with ‘what if?” While these thoughts are occasionally normal, they can lead to serious fear over time. Thus, practice regular journaling to increase awareness of your negative thinking patterns and replace them with realistic thoughts. This will help address the root of anxiety.
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Seek help from a trained therapist
If back pain from anxiety continues to be overwhelming and affects your daily life, it might be helpful to consult a trained mental health professional. A therapist trained in anxiety and somatic work can help you find the root cause of anxiety, challenge negative thoughts, and even develop a better mind-body connection to heal back pain.
Conclusion
Anxiety doesn’t just impact your mind but also your body. Sometimes it shows up in the form of nagging back pain. Thus, treating anxiety-induced back pain requires a holistic approach involving both the mind and the body.
Techniques such as deep breathing, grounding and mindfulness alongside self-care and regular journaling can help you reduce anxiety, while exercise, heat press and improving your posture can help you reduce back pain. A combination of all these techniques is effective to start your journey towards holistic recovery.
References:
- Back Pain and Anxiety: Learning How to Relief the Discomfort. (n.d.). @Medanta. Retrieved August 1, 2025, from https://www.medanta.org/patient-education-blog/back-pain-and-anxiety-breaking-the-cycle-of-discomfort
- Easy tips to relieve stress-related neck and back pain | Back and Spine | Brain | Rehabilitation | UT Southwestern Medical Center. (n.d.). Retrieved August 1, 2025, from https://utswmed.org/medblog/stress-back-pain/
- Stress and Back Pain: What’s the Relationship? (2023, April 19). Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/stress/can-stress-cause-back-pain
