Trauma and chronic pain are closely linked, though the connection is not always immediately apparent. Many survivors of trauma—whether physical, emotional, or psychological—experience persistent, often debilitating chronic pain. World-renowned trauma researchers such as Bessel van der Kolk and Peter Levine have highlighted how unresolved trauma becomes “stored” in the body, leading to physical symptoms long after the traumatic event has passed. Their work shows that when the nervous system remains stuck in survival mode, it can manifest in the form of chronic tension, inflammation, and pain that conventional medical treatments may fail to resolve.
Understanding this mind-body connection is key to effective treatment. Addressing the underlying trauma—not just the physical symptoms—can lead to lasting relief and recovery.
A Broad Idea of Trauma
Trauma researcher and author Gabor Mate often uses the word ‘wound’ or ‘pain’ in place of ‘trauma’, while I often refer to it as ‘baggage’. Whatever word fits best with you, what we mean is an experience or ongoing experience that disrupted your sense of psychological, emotional, or physical safety. Many people will immediately think of objectively life-threatening situations, but the reality is that the wound that trauma creates is from a subjective injury.
For Gabor, the wound was being separated from his family and feeling invisible amidst the occupation of his home city during WW2. For me, it was the tragic death of my mother when I was very young. For some, it may be the fear and distress caused by growing up in poverty, where despite having loving and kind parents, there was a sense of instability and stress. For others who may have grown up in wealthy environments, the absence of parents due to work. There are too many possible causes to name them all.
What is key to this understanding of trauma is the concept that as children we are entirely dependent on others for survival, and any sign that those who we are dependant on are not dependable, is a threat. It signals that we may not have our needs fulfilled—psychological, emotional and physical—creating a feeling of fear and danger that leaves a lasting mark.
The same principle applies to traumatic experiences in adolescence and adulthood. When we are unable to protect ourselves—whether by resisting, escaping, or fleeing—the experience can leave an invisible wound that continues to shape how we feel and respond to the world.
The Mind-Body Connection
If you’ve ever wondered why your body seems to hold on to pain long after an injury has healed—or why aches and tension appear without a clear physical cause—you’re not alone. Research has shown that trauma, especially when left unprocessed, doesn’t just live in our memories; it can embed itself in our nervous system and shape how we experience pain day to day. Research shows that people with PTSD often experience chronic pain, and vice versa. Estimates suggest that 20–80% of people with PTSD also report chronic pain, with the prevalence of PTSD higher in people with chronic pain (Rometsch-Ogioun El Sount, C. et al., 2019).
When we go through something traumatic, our body’s survival system kicks in. Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline flood the body, putting us into fight-or-flight mode to keep us safe. But as trauma experts like Dr Levine have highlighted in their research, the real problem starts when that survival response is not completed and the energy generated for getting to safety isn’t used and therefore lingers in the body when the threat is gone, making the body feel like it’s still in danger (Levine & Frederick, 1997).
For many trauma survivors, this can mean living in a state of ongoing tension and hypervigilance without even realising it. The nervous system, having adapted to expect danger, stays on high alert. What this means is that even harmless sensations—a tight muscle, a knock, a stomach cramp—can feel amplified, unbearable, or triggering, and the chronic stress in the body can cause tension and pain. Jaw and shoulder tightness, stomach and back pain and headaches are all common examples of this. Everyday life becomes filled with discomfort that seems to have no clear cause.
As Bessel van der Kolk wrote in The Body Keeps the Score, trauma isn’t just a story about something that happened in the past; it lives in the body in the form of tension, pain, and dysregulation. His work also reminds us that this is not a flaw in us—it’s an entirely human, adaptive response to overwhelming experiences.
Understanding this connection can be life-changing. It means your chronic pain isn’t “all in your head.” It’s real, and often connected to distressing experiences in childhood (Karimov-Zwienenberg et al, 2024). But it also means that healing is possible—not just by treating the pain itself, but by addressing the trauma underneath.
Pathways to Healing
Once we begin to understand how trauma lives in the body—not just in the mind—the path to healing starts to look a little different. For many people living with chronic pain, the focus has long been on physical treatments: medication, surgery, and physiotherapy. And while these approaches can help manage symptoms, they often fail to address the root cause when that pain is linked to unresolved trauma.
The extensive work of Peter Levine has shown us that healing trauma—and the physical pain it can create—requires a more body-focused approach. His research points to the fact that trauma is not merely a memory or a psychological issue; it is a physiological state stored in the nervous system and expressed through the body. Peter Levine’s somatic experiencing model is based on the idea that by gently and safely discharging stored survival energy, the body can finally relax and heal. Similarly, Bessel van der Kolk’s work highlights how trauma-sensitive practices like yoga, bodywork, and breath regulation can help calm the nervous system and reduce physical symptoms.
This scientific understanding opens the door to a new kind of treatment—one that recognises the body as an essential part of recovery, as well as encouraging us to look beneath the surface of our pain and ask: what is my body trying to say?
Most importantly, it invites us to stop seeing chronic pain as something “wrong” with us, and instead, as the body’s intelligent way of communicating distress. When we listen to that message—not just suppress it—we can begin to heal, from the inside out.
Practices that support nervous system regulation, such as somatic therapy, breathwork, trauma-informed yoga, EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) can help release the trauma stored in the body and ease the chronic pain it creates. You can find widely detailed information about the kind of body-focused strategies offered at Khiron Clinics across our website and in blogs like this one.
References
Maté, G. (2023) The myth of normal. Random House UK.
https://drgabormate.com/book/the-myth-of-normal/
Levine, P.A. and Frederick, A. (1997) Walking the tiger healing trauma: The innate capacity to transform overwhelming experiences Peter A. Levine Aut; Ann Frederick Aut. Berkeley, Calif: North Atlantic Books.
https://www.somaticexperiencing.com/se-books
van der Kolk, B. and Pratt, S. (2021) The body keeps the score bessel van der kolk. S.I.: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group.
https://www.besselvanderkolk.com/resources/the-body-keeps-the-score
Kind S, Otis JD. The Interaction Between Chronic Pain and PTSD. Curr Pain Headache Rep. 2019 Nov 28;23(12):91. doi: 10.1007/s11916-019-0828-3. PMID: 31781875.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11916-019-0828-3
Brennstuhl MJ, Tarquinio C, Montel S. Chronic Pain and PTSD: Evolving Views on Their Comorbidity. Perspect Psychiatr Care. 2015 Oct;51(4):295-304. doi: 10.1111/ppc.12093. Epub 2014 Nov 24. PMID: 25420926.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ppc.12093
Karimov-Zwienenberg M, Symphor W, Peraud W, Décamps G. Childhood trauma, PTSD/CPTSD and chronic pain: A systematic review. PLoS One. 2024 Aug 30;19(8):e0309332. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0309332. PMID: 39213321; PMCID: PMC11364226.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11364226/
Rometsch-Ogioun El Sount C, Windthorst P, Denkinger J, Ziser K, Nikendei C, Kindermann D, Ringwald J, Renner V, Zipfel S, Junne F. Chronic pain in refugees with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): A systematic review on patients’ characteristics and specific interventions. J Psychosom Res. 2019 Mar;118:83-97. doi: 10.1016/j.jpsychores.2018.07.014. Epub 2018 Jul 30. PMID: 30078503.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S002239991731245X?via%3Dihub
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