What’s the Link Between Trauma and Chronic Pain?
The prevalence of chronic pain has reached a point where it’s taken for granted. At least one-third of Americans suffer from chronic pain. As a result, about 25 percent are unable to handle basic daily functioning. Almost nine out of 10 chronic pain sufferers are trying to cope with issues related to their neck or lower back.
Meanwhile, in any given year, about 12 million American adults are struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). More than half of the people in the U.S. will experience trauma at least once. As a result, they may have to deal with symptoms like hyper-vigilance, social isolation, sleep disturbances, intrusive thoughts, and, yes… chronic pain.
What is Trauma?
When a person endures or witnesses a terrible event (or series of events), they will have an emotional response. This is called trauma, and it can cause the symptoms listed above. Not every horrific, abusive experience will cause someone to be traumatized, but when it does, the trauma will typically fall into one of three categories:
Acute: resulting from a single incident
Chronic: when the events are prolonged
Complex: related to multiple, varied experiences
What is Chronic Pain?
If you twist an ankle while playing pick-up basketball, the pain will likely be acute. It is sudden, can be intense, and is almost always temporary. Chronic pain persists to a point at which it can shift one’s brain chemistry. Your wiring may trigger a pain response even when no cause is present.
This is not meant to imply that anyone is “faking” it or that the pain is “all in their head.” Rather, it highlights the complex factors that can impact our well-being. It also emphasizes the importance of better understanding the trauma-chronic pain connection.
What’s the Link Between Trauma and Chronic Pain?
For starters, let’s consider some of the many daunting statistics:
When someone experiences a traumatic injury, there is a 66 percent chance that they will suffer from chronic pain.
Having a history of childhood trauma causes ten times the risk of PTSD.
About two out of three of those with chronic pain have also been diagnosed with PTSD.
More than half of folks struggling with chronic low back pain have PTSD symptoms.
This is the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Research is ongoing, but as of now, the link between chronic stress and chronic pain is well-established. In a nutshell, it involves our hard-wired stress responses.
When we are threatened, feel threatened, or recall being threatened, our bodies are designed to have a stress response. It is what prepares us to deal with adversity, risk, and danger. However, when stress is chronic, so is the stress response. The chemical reactions this causes can lead to long-term neural damage that makes us feel pain even when no pain is present.
Treating, Processing, and Resolving Trauma is the Start
Complaints of chronic pain must be taken seriously, and root causes must be found. Since the correlation between trauma and chronic pain is so widespread, practitioners are advised to delve into the possibility of past traumatic events being a primary source of the problems. What happened to you in childhood, for example, could be a major contributor to that aching pain that’s got you down today.
The good news is that trauma can be treated. Powerful and effective psychological approaches can be applied by a trauma-informed therapist to begin the healing shift you need. By identifying past experiences and current patterns, you can learn how to handle stress differently and move forward on the path to recovery. You can thrive again — physically and emotionally. It all begins when you reach out to learn more.
