These Little-Known Symptoms of Stress Can Ruin Your Health

In the collective imagination, a stressed person fidgets with their leg, bites their nails, and has difficulty breathing. However, stress isn't always visible to the naked eye and can manifest itself in other, much more insidious ways. It's sometimes accompanied by subtle symptoms that we underestimate. When we experience them, we don't blame stress or make the connection at all. However, these signals, which we ignore on a daily basis, can seriously impact our health in the long run. Here are the little-known symptoms of stress, aka the disease of the century.

Memory lapses

Are you constantly searching for your keys? Do you forget important appointments? Do all your friends call you Dory? It's one of the most insidious symptoms of stress. Chronic stress can impair cognitive function and affect short-term memory. The culprit: excessive production of cortisol, the stress hormone, which weakens the hippocampus, the area of the brain involved in memory and learning. If you feel like your mind is constantly elsewhere, it may be a sign that your mental load is too heavy.

Unexplained pain

Back pain, muscle tension, joint pain... stress can literally "crystallize" in the body and cause chronic pain. It forces muscles to remain permanently tense, thus promoting cervical and lumbar tension. If there's no medical cause for your pain, your mind could well be the source.

Abnormal hair loss

Is your hair falling out in clumps for no apparent reason? It's not necessarily your hair routine. Chronic stress can lead to a diffuse hair loss called telogen effluvium. During times of intense stress, hair follicles prematurely enter the resting phase, causing sudden hair loss several months after the stressful event.

Skin that plays tricks

Sudden acne breakouts, unexplained redness, or resurfacing eczema? You're probably thinking it's just the side effect of a skincare product without looking any further. However, it's one of the subtle symptoms of stress. Increased cortisol stimulates sebum production, promoting the appearance of imperfections. Furthermore, stress weakens the immune system, leaving the field open to skin inflammation.

Regular colds

Are you catching every bacteria that's lying around? It's not just bad luck. A weakened immune system caused by stress makes the body more vulnerable to infections. If you're catching colds often or taking a long time to heal, it could be a sign that your body is struggling with chronic stress.

A tense jaw

If you experience tension or pain in your jaw, especially when you wake up, it may be related to bruxism (clenching or grinding your teeth) caused by stress. This excessive tension can lead to headaches and muscle pain in your face. This probably explains why your face feels tight as if you've had a facelift.

Frequent headaches

Do you have headaches that are even worse than the ones you get after a night out? Stress is an aggravating factor for migraines and tension headaches. When you're stressed, the muscles in your neck and head tense up, which can cause painful pressure in your temples and forehead.

These symptoms you experience every day finally have an explanation. This makes it easier to diagnose and act quickly before stress becomes entrenched. Even though stress affects many people , it hasn't yet revealed all its mysteries.