😰 Stress, the Nervous System & Why You’re Not Healing Properly
👋 Who We Are
At Sports Physio UK, we’re not just about treating injuries—we’re about understanding why they happened, how to fix them, and how to stop them from coming back. We work hands-on, we listen, and we dig deeper than the surface-level pain. And sometimes? The problem isn’t just your muscles. It’s your nervous system.
Let us explain.
🧠 Why It Happens
Here’s a scenario: I tell you your rehab homework is 24,000 shoulder shrugs per day.
Sounds ridiculous, right?
But that’s what your nervous system is doing when you’re under stress—constantly firing, constantly bracing, constantly burning energy and tension.
Your body has two key settings:
1. Sympathetic Nervous System (fight, flight or freeze)
This is your survival mode. Great if you're running from a tiger or shouting at traffic. Not great if you’re trying to heal a hamstring tear.
2. Parasympathetic Nervous System (rest, digest and repair)
This is the calm zone. The repair shop. The place where healing actually happens.
Here’s the kicker: when you’re stressed—whether from work, sleep, relationships, or even overtraining—your body leans heavily into that sympathetic state. That means reduced blood flow to muscles, poor tissue regeneration, disrupted sleep, and slower recovery.
🔁 The Impact on Your Recovery
Many of our patients come in doing “all the right things”—stretching, rehab, even foam rolling until they’re bruised. But they’re not getting better.
Why?
Because they’re unknowingly stuck in a stress loop. Their nervous system is so switched on that it’s preventing the body from doing what it’s designed to do—heal.
Common signs you might be in this loop:
- You struggle to switch off or sleep deeply
- Muscles feel constantly tight or "wired"
- Your progress in physio plateaus or regresses
- Pain flares up even when you haven’t done anything different
🧘 Prevention & Exercises
Want to promote better healing? You need to switch on your parasympathetic system.
Here’s a simple breathing exercise we teach:
🫁 Hand on chest, hand on tummy.
Try to breathe so only the hand on your tummy moves.
Inhale slowly through your nose for 4 seconds, hold for 2, then exhale through your mouth for 6 seconds.
Repeat for 2–3 minutes. Do this before bed, after exercise, or even just mid-day when stress hits.
Pair this with your rehab plan and you’ll give your body a much better environment to recover.
📣
If you’re stuck in the “why am I still not better?” cycle, let’s dig deeper together. At Sports Physio UK, we don’t just hand over an exercise sheet and send you packing. We work with you, hands-on, and help your whole system—not just the sore bit.
Your healing is our priority. Our hundreds of five-star reviews speak for themselves.
📞 Call us or book online today
🌐 www.book.sportsphysiouk.co.uk
