Healing Trauma with Chiropractic
This month we’re taking a look at Healing Trauma with Chiropractic – how to recognise it, how to manage it and overcome it’s affects.
The definition of Trauma is: a deeply distressing or disturbing experience that overwhelms an individual’s ability to cope, causing significant emotional, psychological, or physical harm.
Trauma can result from a single event (acute trauma), repeated or prolonged exposure to distressing events (chronic trauma), or secondary exposure to another’s trauma (vicarious trauma).
Other key elements of trauma are:
Emotional Overwhelm: – Where an experience has been so intense it has left us unable to process or handle it effectively.
Physical Impact: Where we experience symptoms like chronic fatigue or pain
Psychological Impact: Where there can be more lasting effects such as anxiety, depression, dissociation and hypervigilance.
Perception of Threat: Trauma is often linked to a perceived or actual threat to one’s safety, well-being, or life.
There is a deep connection between emotional experiences and physiological responses in our body. Trauma can often remain “locked in” or stored in our physical body for any period of time. This can happen because when we experience trauma, the body responds with a “fight, flight, or freeze” reaction.
This response is controlled by the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which automatically triggers physical changes like increased heart rate, muscle tension, and stress hormone release.
When we experience unresolved or unprocessed trauma, the physical reactions associated with it can remain stuck in our body for days, weeks or even years.
Here’s How Stuck Trauma can show up!
1. Chronic Muscle Tension
Trauma can often lead to long-term muscle tension, particularly in areas like the neck, shoulders, and hips. These muscles remain tight as a way to “brace” the body against perceived threats. Over time, this tension can become chronic, leading to stiffness, pain, and limited mobility.
2. Nervous System Dysregulation
Trauma can also affect the regulation of your autonomic nervous system. Moreover, keeping your body in a constant state of hyperarousal (fight or flight) or hypoarousal (freeze). This dysregulation can manifest as anxiety, restlessness, or exhaustion. You might find yourself unable to relax, constantly on edge, or feeling numb and disconnected from your own body.
3. Somatic Memories
In cases of severe trauma, memories of the traumatic event may not be fully processed by your brain, especially in the rational and verbal parts (like the prefrontal cortex). Instead, it can be stored as “somatic memories,” which are felt rather than remembered consciously. These memories may trigger physical sensations such as, pain, tightness, or nausea. All of this can happen in response to certain stimuli, even if you are not consciously aware of the connection to the trauma.
4. Body Armor
Some people develop what is known as “body armor,” where they unconsciously adopt protective postures—like hunching shoulders or clenching jaws—that shield your body from perceived threats. Over time, these postures can become habitual and contribute to physical discomfort and pain.
5. Visceral Reactions
Is when your body stores trauma in the visceral organs (gut, heart, lungs). For example, many people experience digestive issues, heart palpitations, or shortness of breath after trauma. The gut-brain connection, or “second brain,” plays a significant role in how your body processes stress. Emotional pain, and chronic trauma can disrupt these systems.
6. Energy Blockages
In some holistic alternative healing modalities it’s believed that trauma can cause blockages in the body’s energy flow (often referred to as “chi” or “prana”). These blockages may result in areas of stagnation, pain, or discomfort that persist until the trauma is released or processed.
7. Psychosomatic Illness
Unresolved trauma can manifest as psychosomatic symptoms—physical illnesses or conditions that have no apparent medical cause. These can range from chronic pain conditions like fibromyalgia to autoimmune disorders. Emotional stress and trauma can weaken the immune system and disrupt normal bodily functions, making you more susceptible to physical illness.
How chiropractic can Help
Chiropractic care can help address trauma stored in the physical body by focusing on the alignment of the spine, nervous system regulation, and muscle tension relief. It’s often thought that Chiropractic can only treat physical injuries or misalignments, but it can also support healing from emotional or psychological trauma.
Here’s how:
1. Restoring Nervous System Balance
Trauma often dysregulates the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which controls the body’s fight, flight, or freeze responses. Your spine is central to your nervous system because the spinal cord transmits signals between the brain and the rest of your body. Misalignments (subluxations) in the spine can interfere with this communication, exacerbating stress and anxiety.
We work to realign your spine, relieving pressure on your nervous system and potentially helping to restore you to balance. This can promote a shift from a hyper-aroused state (associated with trauma) to a calmer state, where your body can heal.
2. Releasing Muscle Tension and Body Armor
Chronic muscle tension and postural imbalances, often referred to as “body armor.” is your body’s way of guarding against perceived threats. Sometimes these threats may no longer be present yet the residual tension of it is. Chiropractic adjustments can help release this muscle tension by promoting proper alignment and encouraging your body to relax.
In addition to spinal adjustments, chiropractors often use soft tissue techniques, like myofascial release to target areas of chronic tension. This can help reduce pain, stiffness, and tension associated with unresolved trauma.
3. Improving Body Awareness (Proprioception)
Did you know that Chiropractic care can improve proprioception? – your body’s sense of where it is in space. Trauma often leads to dissociation or disconnection from your body. When this happens it makes it difficult for you to fully inhabit or be aware of your physical self. Adjustments and hands-on care can help you become more aware of your body, improving the mind-body connection. This is especially useful in trauma healing, as becoming more aware of physical sensations is a key aspect of somatic therapies.
4. Releasing Stored Emotional Trauma
It’s good to remember that chiropractic is not a direct form of emotional therapy. However, adjustments and bodywork can sometimes lead to emotional releases which happen often as part of the healing process. The reason this can happen is because the physical body and emotional experiences are deeply interconnected. Therefore as areas of tension are relieved, clients may experience a release of stored emotions, such as sadness, anger, or fear. Consequently, we often see practice members who cry or feel emotional after an adjustment, especially when trauma has been held in the body for a long time. We pride ourselves in providing a safe space to allow such emotion to be released safely.
5. Supporting Holistic Healing
At our clinics we take a holistic approach to health, considering lifestyle, emotional health, and physical well-being. Where appropriate we will recommend working in conjunction with other healthcare practitioners as a way to support whole-person healing from trauma. Often we will recommend practices like meditation, yoga, or breathwork to complement chiropractic care to support your nervous system’s ability to heal from trauma.
6. Regulating the Vagus Nerve
The vagus nerve is a critical part of the parasympathetic nervous system (the “rest and digest” system). It runs through the neck and plays a major role in regulating your body’s response to stress and trauma. Some chiropractic adjustments, particularly those involving the neck and upper spine, can stimulate the vagus nerve. This in turn can help to calm your nervous system and reduce the physical effects of trauma.
7. Improving Sleep and Reducing Stress
Trauma can often lead to sleep disturbances and chronic stress, both of which negatively impact physical and emotional health. Chiropractic care can help reduce physical discomfort, pain, and stress, which may contribute to improved sleep patterns and better overall relaxation. When your body feels less tense and more balanced, you may experience fewer stress-related symptoms and find it easier to sleep and heal.
8. Reducing Psychosomatic Symptoms
Chiropractic care can be effective in addressing psychosomatic symptoms, such as chronic headaches, digestive issues, or unexplained pain, that result from emotional trauma. By improving your spinal alignment and reducing nervous system stress, chiropractic adjustments can help alleviate these physical symptoms, which often have a strong emotional component.
In combination with other trauma-informed therapies, chiropractic care can be a useful tool in addressing the physical manifestations of trauma and supporting overall healing.
Healing and Releasing Trauma from the Body
As you can see, Chiropractic care can help address trauma stored in the physical body by focusing on the alignment of your spine. How your nervous system regulates itself and helping to relieve your muscle tension is another aspect of the adjusting process. This can then support healing from emotional or psychological trauma by helping you to reconnect with your body. Your body is then more robust and able to allow for releasing of trapped tension, emotions, and memories, helping to alleviate the long-term effects of trauma stored physically.
If you’re in Pain – we’re here to Help!
Are you experiencing issues with your mobility, in performing day to day activities or in constant pain?
As a registered Chiropractor we offer personalized advice and treatment options for all types of back, neck, hip, knee, headache & migraine pain.
Taking proactive steps to care for your spinal health can prevent future issues and promote overall mobility, endurance and well-being.
If you’re struggling with pain or discomfort get in touch with one of our team members who will be happy to answer any questions you may have about your symptoms and how we can help you.
Always be sure that your spinal health is taken care of by a registered chiropractor.
**Always be sure to carry out your own due diligence and research on information provided on our website.
**If you are on medication, always consult with your health practitioner before making changes to your diet, exercise or lifestyle.