When Pain Isn’t Just Physical: The Trauma Connection
Trauma & Pain Blog Series – Part 1
Pain doesn’t always start with injury.
Pain can begin when your body no longer feels safe. What we call “unexplained pain” may actually be your nervous system holding onto past experiences.
Sometimes, pain is what happens when your body holds on to experiences your mind hasn’t, or couldn’t, fully process. Trauma, especially when it’s unresolved, doesn’t just live in memory. It lives in your nervous system, fascia, breath, and posture. And over time, it can show up as real, physical pain.
This is more common than people think.
The body remembers what the mind forgets.
We’ve long been taught to separate physical pain from emotional pain. But science and lived experience tell us they’re deeply connected.
Trauma can make the body hyper-vigilant, locking muscles into tension, restricting breath, and amplifying the brain’s sensitivity to even small physical signals. It’s not just stress. It’s a survival response that hasn’t fully shut off.
If you’ve ever:
- Had unexplained chronic pain that doesn’t respond to treatment
- Felt muscle tightness or flare-ups after emotional stress
- Struggled with fatigue, sleep issues, or anxiety alongside physical discomfort
- Been told “everything looks normal” on your scans—but you still hurt
you’re not imagining it. Your body might be stuck in protection mode.
The Trauma-Pain Loop
The trauma-pain loop is a cycle where unresolved trauma keeps the nervous system stuck in survival mode, which leads to chronic tension, heightened pain sensitivity, and a body that never fully lets go. Even without new injury, the system keeps signaling pain as a form of protection. It always comes back to safety.
Here’s how it can look:
- Past trauma or chronic stress changes your nervous system’s baseline
2. Your brain stays on high alert, interpreting even safe sensations as threat
3. Your muscles tense, breath shortens, and inflammation rises
4. You feel pain—and your body reinforces the need to “stay guarded”
5. The cycle continues
This isn’t about weakness. It’s about biology. Your body adapted to protect you and now it needs help to feel safe again.
A Closer Look: This Week on the The Pain Playbook
During Mental Health Awareness Month, we’re exploring how trauma shows up as pain and what you can do about it. In this 5-part series we will talk about:
- The nervous system’s role in trauma and pain
- Common patterns we see in clients
- How tools like breathwork, movement, and regulation help
- What recovery looks like when we start by creating safety
You’re not broken.
Your body is doing its best to survive.
Let’s help it begin to heal.
Next Up:
Stay tuned for Part 2: What Trauma Does to the Nervous System
