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Key points
- Anecdotally, many medical providers report increased cases of things like dizziness and tooth grinding as people suffer higher stress levels.
- Stress can lead to hair loss, often because the stress response pushes follicles into the resting phase.
- During times of prolonged stress, muscles may maintain a state of hypervigilance, leading to soreness.
The mental health toll of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased awareness about just how important emotional wellness is — and how easily it can suffer during times of sustained stress. As depression and anxiety rates rise, more people are talking openly about their struggles with mood, which can lead to more people seeking help.
What is not always part of the discussion in this context, however, is the physical toll that stress can take on the body. We may be very familiar with weight gain and sleep problems, but less aware that certain new physical ailments we are experiencing may be exacerbated by —or even originate from — a prolonged stress response. Anecdotally, many medical providers from ENTs to dentists are reporting increased cases of things like dizziness and tooth grinding, respectively, as people suffer from higher stress levels than usual.
Are you suffering from any of the symptoms below? It is always best to start with a full medical workup from a general practitioner, but it is also important to understand the role that stress can play.
1. Dental problems
From the deterioration that comes from tooth grinding to increased jaw pain and muscle tension, and tooth decay that stems from a change in eating patterns, dentists often see reactions to stress in ways that many patients may miss in themselves.
Has teleworking made you snack around the clock, leading to cavities? Has not getting dressed for work mean you brush your teeth less frequently? Has your partner reported that you seem to be grinding your teeth at night? These subtle changes can add up to real damage, so it's important to pay attention.
2. Rashes and acne
Our skin can be considered our largest organ, and it functions practically as a canvas of what is going on with our bodies in the general sense. As our hygiene habits change, so too may our skincare routine — leading to pimples or overly dry, unmoisturized skin. Stress can cause flare-ups of eczema or even hives, creating itching that can add cruelly to your distress — beginning the cycle anew.
3. Hair loss
Stress can lead to hair loss in both females and males, often because the stress response itself pushes follicles into the resting phase. So, hairs are prone to falling out simultaneously instead of alternating, leading to potentially large clumps of hair being lost at the same time.
Another way that hair loss can be stress-related is through our behavior. We may twist and pull our hair due to nervous energy, sometimes even without realizing it. Other times, if daily hygiene and hair-brushing fall by the wayside due to emotional duress, tangles and matted clumps can be created that end up pulling out massive amounts of hair when they are finally combed.
4. Sore muscles
Muscle tension and anxiety are practically synonymous, so very interwoven into the stress response is the tightening that happens from your temples to your toes. So, during times of prolonged stress, when these muscles are constantly maintaining a state of hypervigilance without a chance to loosen, your body may feel completely beaten down, like you have run a marathon — or even gotten into a fistfight.
5. Frequent colds
The relationship between the immune system and the stress response is well-documented. And while for the past year we have been focused on the deadly threat of COVID-19, there are many additional viruses and pathogens that spread with contact.
When you experience prolonged stress, your immune system works less than optimally. Moreover, the potential behavioral ripple effects of stressful times, like poor sleep and not eating well, can make you more rundown, weaken your immune system, and make you more likely to get sick as well.
6. Dizziness
If you are experiencing frequent bouts of dizziness, it's important to get checked out by a physician to rule out various physiological issues. Nonetheless, there could be many stress-related reasons for the dizziness, from changes in posture and neck alignment to changes in diet that lead to inadequate vitamins and minerals.
In medicine, we are learning more and more that everything is connected — and though dizziness might not immediately seem to be connected to (for example), your longer, flustered days at the computer, it could very well be. From eyestrain to misalignment that causes neck pressure that affects your inner ear, many things are related that are not obvious at first glance.
7. Digestive problems
A "nervous stomach" has become a common descriptor for a reason: Stress affects all kinds of aspects of your stomach and intestine function. The threat response of fight-or-flight typically halts digestion (your body believes at that moment it has more important things to deal with), which means that your lunch may be left sitting in a pool of stomach acid. Stress also often affects our diets and our levels of physical activity. All told, from nausea and heartburn to diarrhea and constipation, it's common for changes in this area of function to be at least partly attributable to stress.
