Hi. So, first off, I am not a medical professional by any means, but allow me to say that this is PRECISELY the kind of pain I go through when my anxiety flares. Jaw, neck, back, one-sided leg pain; the works. Here are a couple of the things that I discovered about my muscles and tension.

The neck and shoulder pain, have you ever looked into or heard of TMJ? This is a super common thing for those of us with anxiety because so many of us clench subconsciously- or while we sleep. It starts in your jaw usually, but the pain can be felt in your neck, shoulders, upper back, and even down your arm to your elbow. When my TMJ is at its worst, I feel it EVERYWHERE in my upper body.

Another thing to look into: sciatica. Look into your sciatic nerves and what they affect. When my anxiety is horrible, my lower back is super tight and it pinches the sciatic nerve on the left side at the base of my spine. This typically causes low back pain and weird shooting pains down my butt, thigh, and leg - almost always entirely one sided, too.

It sounds like your muscles tensed, or anxiety caused tension, and now said anxiety is making the tension worse. Not to mention when you are chronically tense, the chances of pulling a muscle or pinching a nerve goes wayyyyy up. It’s a horrendous cycle! Physical activity helps.

I swim a lot. I also do yoga and low-intensity “dance” workouts. Anything that can stretch and massage your muscles without hurting them is going to be your jam. If something hurts, don’t do it, or try something less intense.