While it’s intuitive that physical stressors can cause physical injuries, you might not know that mental and emotional stress can also lead to musculoskeletal injuries that require physical therapy. That’s right-a lack of sleep, a busy workweek, and other stressful life events can make you more prone to injury. Why is this, an how can you prevent the stresses of everyday life from causing you bodily harm?

When you experience stress, your body does a few things that naturally put you at an increased risk of injury. First, stress causes your nerves to function inefficiently. Second, stressful situations lead to higher levels of cortisol in the body, a hormone that inhibits muscle repair and immune system function. If you’re always dealing with stressful situations, then you’re constantly leaving your body open to physical injury.

You can prevent injuries ’ with all sorts of physical means, but if you fail to address your mental and emotional health, you’ll still be at a heightened risk. While you might not be able to prevent every stressful situation from ever happening, you can control how you react when one does occur.

A few simple things you can do to prevent mental stress are to get enough sleep, maintain a healthy diet, and drink plenty of water. If any of these basic stress inhibitors are absent from your daily routine, focus on incorporating them in to alleviate some of your stress. That said, practicing simple breathing exercises or another form of medication can also be helpful, especially if you’re looking for a physical way to mentally unwind after a stressful day.

While learning about how much stress hurts you can be even more stressful, you can find some peace knowing that with a few simple changes to your routine, you can prevent stress from causing physical injury.

Inspired by: eatingwell.com