Is it in your head?

Sometimes, we feel pain but can’t quite remember how it started. There’s no clear injury, no wrong movement we can point to, it just seems to appear, gradually, until one day it’s simply there.

Often, when we look back, there’s been a period of stress, maybe a specific event or just a time when everything felt a bit heavier. Sometimes, you’ve even noticed the link yourself and thought, “Maybe it’s just stress.”

So, does that mean there isn’t really a problem?

Not at all.

Stress isn’t just “in your head.” It’s deeply physical. When stress rises, your body shifts into a state of alert; your heart rate and breathing speed up, your pupils constrict, and blood flow is redirected from your organs to your arms and legs to prepare for action.

But when this response becomes constant, that low-grade, ongoing hum of stress, it puts a strain on your system. Your body stays slightly heightened, your immune function dips, inflammation increases, and healing slows down. Your body also becomes more sensitive, so small niggles that would normally fade after a good night’s sleep can start to linger.

Just because there wasn’t a visible injury doesn’t make the pain any less real. It’s very real.

As osteopaths, part of our role is to help you identify and manage these patterns, supporting both the body and the mind so your system can return to balance. Even if you’re stretching, moving, and sleeping well, elevated stress can still hold the body back from healing fully. Addressing that helps us get to the true root of what’s going on, and keeps pain from coming back.