Can Pain Cause High Blood Pressure? What the Latest Research Shows
If you live with chronic pain, you already know how much it affects your daily life. But there’s a consequence that often goes unnoticed: chronic pain can raise your blood pressure — and according to new research, the risk is greater than previously understood.
For patients struggling with chronic pain, pain is a daily reality. While the cause of the pain may be a mystery in some cases, it’s easy to identify in others. Either way, the patient continues to suffer as the pain lasts for days, weeks, months, or even years. Research now suggests that pain is detrimental to cardiovascular health because it can lead to high blood pressure – otherwise known as hypertension.
You may be wondering: Is this really true? Is there a definitive link between pain and high blood pressure? Read on to learn more as your #1 Charlotte pain specialist provides answers to these questions in this post.
Table of Contents
What New Research Shows (2025)
A landmark study published in November 2025 in Hypertension — a journal of the American Heart Association — analyzed data from more than 200,000 adults and found that people with chronic pain were significantly more likely to develop high blood pressure than those without persistent pain.
Key findings:
- People with chronic pain affecting multiple areas of the body had a 75% higher risk of developing high blood pressure compared to those with no pain
- Those with chronic pain confined to specific areas — such as the back, neck, abdomen, or head — had between 16% and 43% higher risk
- Depression and inflammation explained a significant portion of the link between chronic pain and hypertension
- The more widespread the pain, the greater the risk — even localized chronic pain meaningfully raises hypertension risk
The researchers concluded that early and effective pain management may be one of the most important steps in preventing high blood pressure — particularly for people with musculoskeletal conditions affecting the back, neck, hips, or knees.
The Relationship Between Pain and Hypertension
Acute Pain and Hypertension
Sudden, sharp pain acts as an alarm or warning to your body. It tells your body that it is not safe or that something is wrong with it, thereby triggering its fight-or-flight response. Your sympathetic nervous system responds to the pain by releasing chemicals that constrict the blood vessels and cause the heart to beat faster. The pain also signals your adrenal gland to release cortisone and adrenaline, which then causes an immediate increase in your pulse and blood pressure.
However, acute pain does not cause high blood pressure. This is because your blood pressure will go back to normal once the pain goes away. Even if the pain lasts for days or weeks, the brain will release your body’s natural pain relievers (otherwise known as endogenous opioids) to adapt to the pain. These endogenous opioids help lower your blood pressure by decreasing your sensitivity to pain.
Chronic Pain and High Blood Pressure
The relationship between hypertension and long-term pain, known as chronic pain, is not as obvious as acute pain. However, chronic pain is already connected to various psychological and physical disorders, including long-term hypertension. Studies also show that people with chronic pain have a higher risk of developing hypertension.
This likely happens because pain uses up your body’s natural pain relievers and eventually wears out its receptors. Like acute pain, chronic pain also triggers your body’s natural opioid response. As time goes by, it eventually runs out of these endogenous opioids as the pain persists, which increases your sensitivity to pain and causes hypertension.
Chronic pain also contributes to hypertension through additional pathways:
- Persistent pain disrupts sleep, which independently raises blood pressure
- Chronic pain increases the risk of depression, which is also independently linked to hypertension
- Inflammation from the underlying pain condition affects blood vessel function over time
- Many people use NSAIDs (like ibuprofen) long-term for pain relief — these can raise blood pressure with regular use
Symptoms of High Blood Pressure
If you’re suffering from chronic pain and think you may eventually develop high blood pressure from stress, it’s important to recognize the symptoms of hypertension. Unfortunately, hypertension does not always come with symptoms.
Regardless, it’s still helpful to know the common symptoms to look out for.
- Pounding in your neck, ears, or chest
- Difficulty breathing
- Vision problems
- Headaches
- Confusion
- Fatigue
- Irregular heartbeat
- Chest pain
- Dizziness or lightheadedness
- Neck pain
- Nosebleeds
- Blood in urine
A normal blood pressure reading is below 120/80 mm Hg. Readings of 130/80 or higher are considered elevated. If you live with chronic pain and haven’t had your blood pressure checked recently, it’s worth doing — especially given the research above.
What to Do to Relieve Pain and Avoid High Blood Pressure
If you’re struggling with chronic pain, finding an effective treatment or pain management option is crucial for improving your health and overall quality of life. No one likes to be in pain, and no one wants to deal with the consequences of hypertension. That is why we recommend consulting an experienced pain management doctor like Dr. Usman Ahmad to work out a treatment plan to manage your pain and avoid hypertension.
Managing Blood Pressure and Pain Without Medication in Charlotte and Fort Mill
Here are a few tips to help relieve pain and lower blood pressure without drugs:
- Maintain a healthy weight – Obesity and high blood pressure go hand in hand. Being overweight can also aggravate your chronic pain symptoms.
- Increase your physical activity – Regular exercise will help you lose weight and manage pain by releasing endorphins that stimulate the brain’s pleasure center into your bloodstream.
- Limit your alcohol consumption – Excessive alcohol use can lead to cramps and body aches or worsen existing joint pain due to dehydration. People who consume more alcohol are also more likely to develop high blood pressure.
- Limit your salt intake – Your body needs a small amount of sodium to maintain proper function. However, excess sodium is harmful to your vascular system and blood pressure. In addition, excess sodium causes your cells to retain water and swell, leading to an inflammatory reaction that can worsen your pain symptoms.
- Quit smoking – Smokers are more likely to suffer from lower back pain, and they tend to have a higher sensitivity to pain. Smoking can also increase blood pressure and constrict your blood vessels.
- Eat healthily – Eating healthily can help prevent obesity and cardiovascular diseases, and it also provides the nutrients required for quick pain recovery.
- Consider regenerative medicine – Stem cell therapy and Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) therapy are some of the latest cutting-edge pain management approaches in treating pain, sports injuries, and other musculoskeletal conditions. These non-surgical procedures provide fast, effective, and long-lasting relief from pain.
Find Lasting Pain Relief in Charlotte, Huntersville and Fort Mill
If you find yourself dealing with chronic pain, finding lasting relief can reduce your likelihood of developing high blood pressure. We can help!
At Advanced Sports & Spine, we offer the best pain management in Charlotte and Fort Mill with the help of advanced technology and pain therapies. Whether you suffer from general arthritis symptoms, chronic back pain, joint pain, or head pain, you’re in the best hands for pain management treatment. Dr. Usman Ahmad, DO and his caring staff will identify the source of your pain and develop the best treatment plan and procedures to eliminate or reduce it.
Schedule an appointment or call us at (704) 542-3988 to stop the pain before it stops you or leads to another serious health issue.
