{"id":354844,"date":"2026-03-30T07:47:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T07:47:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/354844\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T07:47:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T07:47:08","slug":"pain-your-brain-the-more-traumatic-events-we-experience-the-greater-our-risk-of-developing-chronic-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/354844\/","title":{"rendered":"Pain & your brain: The more traumatic events we experience, the greater our risk of developing chronic pain"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this edited extract from Tell Me Where It Hurts, Rachel Zoffness writes that the link between trauma and chronic pain two offers hope for treatment. To read Niki Bezzant\u2019s interview with Zoffness, go here.<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Trauma and chronic pain are best friends, co-occurring up to 80%
\n of the time: people with chronic pain frequently have a history of trauma, and people who have experienced trauma frequently develop chronic pain. In fact, the presence of one is known to increase the likelihood \u2013 and the severity \u2013 of the other.\n <\/p>\n

In 2002, groundbreaking research known as the ACE [Adverse Childhood Experiences] Study revealed childhood traumas were common, destructive and among the most important determinants of physical health ever uncovered. Exposure to ACEs significantly increased risk of developing diseases like obesity, cancer, depression, migraine and lung disease. And as the number of childhood traumas increased, so did the physical and mental health issues.<\/p>\n

The same pattern has been found with chronic pain. The more traumatic events we experience, the greater our risk of developing chronic pain and disability. Among adults who have experienced adverse childhood experiences, the incidence of chronic pain is double that of those who\u2019ve survived none. But pain after a trauma doesn\u2019t always wait until we grow up. In a study of nearly 50,000 children, those with one ACE were 60% more likely to have chronic pain compared to those with none. And children who\u2019d experienced four or more ACEs were 170% more likely to have chronic pain.<\/p>\n

Traumas that occur in adulthood are also risk factors for developing chronic pain \u2013 including car accidents, domestic violence and abuse, life-threatening health conditions and military combat. When a group of traumatised veterans was assessed to determine the impact of war on their clinical needs, a whopping 97% were in pain.<\/p>\n

The ACE Study was one of the first to show that trauma is unequivocally linked to health and disease. It has since been replicated hundreds of times across 22 countries, incorporating data from more than half a million people. These findings raise awareness about the impact of trauma and its long-term physical effects. They\u2019ve also led to the development of interventions aimed at reducing the prevalence and impact of trauma on our health. <\/p>\n

But what hidden aspects of our neurobiology explain this puzzling pain-trauma overlap? <\/p>\n

Trauma may be a social determinant of health, but it isn\u2019t just environmental, and it isn\u2019t just psychological. It also changes our bodies, disrupting the functioning of our nervous, endocrine and immune systems. It also creates a neurological \u201cimprint\u201d that makes us more susceptible to developing chronic pain. Neuroscience studies reveal that trauma can alter brain pathways and neurotransmitters, rewire the amygdala [the emotional centre in the brain], and send the pain system into overdrive. Together, these neurobiological changes can create a heightened, intensified and chronic stress response \u2013 which is why the \u201cS\u201d in PTSD stands for stress. A nervous system stuck in survival mode continues to amplify danger messages even after the danger is gone.<\/p>\n

Because trauma makes the brain extrasensitive, small bits of harmless sensory data from the body can be interpreted as potentially threatening \u2013 triggering loud pain messages even in the absence of actual danger. When benign bodily sensations are persistently misinterpreted as dangerous, this is a recipe for chronic pain.<\/p>\n

Now, not everyone who experiences a trauma will develop PTSD, just as not every-one who experiences trauma is doomed to develop chronic pain. But the overlap between pain and trauma has powerful \u2013 and surprisingly hopeful \u2013 implications for treatment. Because treating one naturally lends itself to treating the other. <\/p>\n

Indeed, research bears this out: multiple treatments have been developed that can simultaneously reduce symptoms of both.<\/p>\n

Yet, despite all we\u2019ve learnt, trauma remains one of the most overlooked pain ingredients. To our great detriment, we continue to proceed with the dangerously reductive belief that trauma is simply a \u201cmental health\u201d diagnosis, and nothing more. In truth, we\u2019ve known that the body keeps the score for a long, long time. l<\/p>\n

Extracted with permission from Tell Me Where It Hurts: The New Science of Pain and How to Heal, by Rachel Zoffness (Allen Lane), out now on e-book and audiobook and due for hardback release on May 5.<\/p>\n

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