Physical signs of stress

Everyone gets stressed. Whether it's from financial troubles, relationships, health problems, or work, there's pretty much an endless list of things that can rile you up and leave you feeling frazzled. For some people, though, the consequences of stress can show up more outwardly than it does in others.

1. Neck pain

Muscle tension is one of the first physical manifestations of stress, and it tends to be most pronounced at the base of the head. That's why your masseuse may ask if you've been stressed lately when your neck and shoulders feel insanely tense.

2. Headaches

Stress is the most common cause of tension headaches, according to the Mayo Clinic. It can also trigger other types of headaches, like migraines, or make an existing headache worse.

3. Nausea

Whether a knot in your stomach or straight up nausea, stress can have a wide range of GI consequences. That's because digestion is often disrupted and slowed down when your nervous system is trying to cope with stress. Pike adds that irritable bowel syndrome can also be linked to stress—the colon is partially controlled by the nervous system, and those with IBS tend to have colons that are more reactive to stress, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America.

4. Hair loss

"Hair loss is more likely to be the product of really long sustained periods of high levels of stress," Pike says. Typically one isolated stressful situation isn't going to make your hair start falling out. But experiencing a life-altering event, like a death of a loved one or a huge career change, can actually cause your hair to stop growing temporarily as your body dedicates its efforts to surviving said event. When it starts growing again, the hairs that were stalled in the middle of growing get shed all at once, so you may find yourself combing out what seems like handfuls at a time.

5. Weight gain

High stress means high levels of cortisol coursing through our veins. "Cortisol is a stress hormone that not only prompts you to eat, but also causes you to retain calories because it thinks you’re in an emergency situation," Pike explains.

6. Acne

Cortisol surges can also lead to cystic acne—aka, red, painful zits that won't go away no matter how much benzoyl peroxide you slather on.

7. Rapid heartbeat and chest pain

When we're stressed, our bodies release cortisol plus other stress hormones—adrenaline and noradrenaline—to get us ready to fight. This causes a short-term increase in heart rate and blood pressure and even chest pain. Over time, stress really can take its toll on your heart. "Chronic stress leads to cardiovascular disease," Pike says. Though the connection isn't crystal clear, the American Heart Association suggests that stress can cause high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, plus encourage other habits that are linked to heart disease like smoking, physical inactivity, and overeating.

8. Insomnia

When you're feeling super worried and having a tough time shutting down your mind, chances are you'll also have some issues falling asleep at night.

9. Getting sick more often

Research shows that stress impacts the immune system and makes us more prone to getting sick. A meta analysis done in 2004 of 300 studies found that while a few minutes of stress (pretty unrealistic IRL) may actually boost immunity in one way, stress with any significant duration, like what we actually experience, has a negative impact on immunity. People who are older or already sick are more prone to decreased immunity from stress.

10. Irregular period

Too much cortisol can interfere with the sex hormones that regulate ovulation and make your period irregular. Extreme stress may stop your body from releasing an egg (it's called anovulation), which means you won't get your monthly visitor. This shouldn't happen under normal levels of stress, though—this is typically only seen in instances of very heavy, chronic stress.

11. Fatigue

If you're not sleeping well, you're probably walking around all day exhausted. Plus, when your body feels overwhelmed and is working overtime to handle the stressors it registers, it takes a lot out of you. When you're tired, you get more irritable and it's harder to cope mentally with stress, creating a vicious cycle. Tried and true stress relievers like exercise, mediation, taking some time for yourself, and even massage or acupuncture, can help relieve tension and calm your mind and body.